Cybernectic Epiphany
by Steeple333
Summary: Morgana reawakens from hibernation after Kite's adventure. However, she seeks not revenge, but a purpose. A different take on Obachan.R
1. Prolouge

Cybernetic Epiphany

**Prolouge**

_"Oba-chan, Oba-chan, daare? Ne, ne, ne!" he sang._

_"Are you talking to me?" I asked, annoyed by the childish display. Such things always irratated me, but he had his purposes, so I endured his... uselesss quirks._

_"Uncertainty..." I began, "That gray space between yes and no." he stopped and paid me attention. Good. "I hate it. I hate that about humans." A wondering but calculating look crossed his face; he opened his mouth and asked:_

_"Obachan, who are you?" This boy... was smarter then he let on. Not only did he surmise Tsukasa's origins, and guessed who Aura was, but he also guessed about me. Well, I wouldn't dissapoint._

_"Watashi wa... The World."_

Aura, Tsukasa, Sora, Aura, Maha, Skeith, Aura, Kaaru, Alf, Kite, Aura, Helba, Virus, Bracelet, Aura, Cobernik, Mia, Coma Victems, Aura.

Morgana came around.

Rather, her AI came out of its hibernation. The rest of her, The World OS, remnants of data, and other miscellaneous parts were still running, but the AI reactivated.

Initionation start...  
Running scan...  
Anomalies detected: 0  
Viruses: 0   
Diagnosis Complete  
Objective?

Morgana paused. What was her objective? She needed one, now. Programs that only took up space got...

Morgana processed quickly. Objective, objective, objective. Nothing came to mind. The World could exist without her. Aura could exist without her. The players could exist without her. Sora could-

…

Morgana considered her position. _I never did find out about emotion properly. About decision-making, or... other things. The Phases are gone, though. Most of them were terminated. Maha is Mia now, and she has moved on and found anouther purpose. I've lost contact with Skeith, and the other Phases were deleted. Perhaps I could study human emotions and experiences, firsthand._

Objective: Human Study  
Procedure: Playtest PC  
Class: Wavemaster (wandless)  
Start-up... Processing PC data...  
Start-up complete.

Morgana decided to go to the Administration "Field" to warp. After all, only a limited number of people entered it, and only a few of them actually played The World.

She chose clothing a couple of girls Flash Mailed each other pictures of. She, her PC, wore a red dress with white ruffled hems. The collar and the chest area was white as well, with a full two-layered skirt. The sleeves were flared at the elbow, with white gloves. She also wore white shoes over white stockings, and had two white bows on her long, loose, straight black hair, the bangs of which covered her eyes completely.

_Where should I go?_ she thought, _I suppose a Root Town. Carmina Gadelica has many players, so I'll start there._ However, right then a voice interrupted.

"Who are you?" of all people, it was Balmung. Data came streaming to Morgana. Balmung got a job as an Administrator, but he was unemployed for a short period. He organized events, and was occansinally involved with Aura.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"..." Best course of action: warp away. Three golden rings arounded Morgana's avatar, and before Balmung could finish "Wait!" she was gone.

End Prolouge

**Author's Notes:** Ok, this is my first (posted) fic. My sister, Weird One, beta read this for me, so thank you! . And thank you, the reader, for reading (please drop a review)! Well, this is merely the prologue, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Honestly, I've never seen a fic where Obachan (Morgana) isn't evil or vengeful, but it's a little project I'm working ine. Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is liked, too.

"Oba-cahn, Oba-chan, dare? Ne, ne, ne?" "Old Lady, Old Lady, who are you? Hey, hey, hey!" Oba-chan can also mean aunt.

"Watashi wa…" "I am…"


	2. Chapter 1: Liminality

Ok, I just finished retyping this onto a computer with Internet! It wasn't easy... . ;;; Anyway, I love the reviews! Such things inspire me, so keep reviewing! And here're the responses (even if you didn't review, you won't regret reading this):

**quitelacking**: Yay! 1st reviewer! I hope this chap is long enough for ya ;D

**Anthro7**: Matrix-like? Cool . Such praise... anyway, since she is a computer program, I thought this story should start in a computerish fashion.

**The Weird One2**: Hello, Oneechan! o I sure hope so. Thank you for beta reading to the point that you snatch away the comp every sentence. ;P A bit of an exaggeration, but still loved.

**DEMONDOG17**: Potential? Yay o I hope I can garner inspiration for the chapters to come. I'm in the middle of chap. 3 now ..

**Spanner**: Well, I realized her motivations, and how her means became an end, and I felt sympathetic. ( I also noticed how many fics (Particularly "Fragments of a Shattered Mirror", which is good ) show Morgana as evil and vengeful, without mercy. From that thought, this popped into my head. Plus, no one else has done it before.

**Chapter 1: Liminality**

The Culture City, Carmina Gadelica, on the Lambda Server was a very popular Root Town, even with players above or below the server level. It was a metropolis shrouded in a perpetual night, but it was full of lights. There were many different shops crowded with just as many different shoppers. There were upscale cafes with wonderful vistas for viewing the stars, lights, and airships that passed through. There was never a lack of adventures in this sleepless city.

A young lady in a red dress warped in from the Chaos Gate and started to walk around. No one seemed to notice her decidedly non-RPG style design, but most players were concerned with other thing. The young lady continued wandering the alleyways, which she could easily navigate even if she was blind. She wasn't, however, despite her bangs, so she eventually settled at a table in an outdoor cafe.

Morgana contented herself watching other players chat amongst themselves. A strapping Blademaster was showing off his purchases to a slim Twinblade. A group of three Wavemasters were exchanging strategies on how to clear a dungeon alone. A Heavy Axeman was trading with a Heavyblade. There wasn't an idle player in sight.

Except, of course, for the Blademaster who walked over to Morgana's table. "You mind if I sit here?" she asked. Morgana looked her over. She had bright red hair pulled back in a low ponytail, with a blue tank top and shoulder armor. Her breeches and hip armor were also blue, with red boots and fingerless gloves. Along the circumference of her biceps was a zigzag pattern with dots on the concave.

"You may." Morgana replied.

"Thanks! I've been on my feet all day, and I'm looking forward to some adventuring. My name's Lory" she said, gray eyes sparkling.

"On your feet?"

"Oh, I have a job as an office lady, and I've been walking all over the office. It's such a relief to relax to play The World."

"Many players think so."

"I bet" Lory said, you want to go on a dungeon with me? I found a good spot on the BBS."

Morgana couldn't see the BBS, since it was just outside of The World. "What are the Keywords?"

"Lambda, Purifying, Quintessential Scent."

"Let's go." Morgana said simply.

In a snowing field, two women warped in. As soon as they had materialized, Lory gave Morgana her Member Address. "Add me to your party, ok?" She said. Morgana made a Member Address for her PC and gave it to Lory. Morgana finished up the preparations by adding Lory to her party.

"Could we level up a bit before going to the dungeon?" Lory asked.

"Do what you want." Morgana responded as a Grunty food to her left cried, "Waito Cherri!"

"Ok, then we'll level up first!" Lory said, pumping her fist in the air, "You're a Wavemaster, right? Though I don't see a weapon..."

"Yes, I'm a Wavemaster." Morgana said, "I don't need a wand." Lory paused and looked Morgana over, "Really? You got a pretty unique PC, too. Why's that?" she asked, "You're not a hacker, are you?"

Morgana riled at that question. "I'm _not_ a hacker." She spat, "Hackers only confuse the system and throw a wrench into things. But," Morgana remembered the great hackers, the ones who give the title a noble name, "But I'm only talking about the lowly amateur ones."

Lory gave her another one-over, "So you're a hacker?"

"No." Morgana replied, "I won this PC through a contest."

"Oh." Lory said, slightly relieved, "That's good to know. Let's level up, shall we?"

"Yah!" Lory yelled as she slashed a witch, killing it. "MeVak Don." Morgana said as she cast a high-level fire spell from her hand onto a crab-type monster. The monsters turned gray and disappeared, and Lory pumped her fist into the air. "All right! Great job, Morgana-chan!"

Morgana started at the name. "Morgana… chan?" she repeated.

"Oh, do you not like being called that?" Lory asked.

Morgana paused, remembering another nickname with "chan", "It's not that it's bad", she said, "but I'm not used to being called that."

"So is it okay?"

"…I suppose. Whatever is comfortable for you."

"Well then, let's go to the dungeon, shall we?"

Morgana nodded and started toward the dungeon with Lory. I was a blue gallery type dungeon, with pillars, tapestries, and plush carpets on the floor.

"I always liked these kinds of dungeons." Lory remarked, "They look like palaces. It's so pretty, if a bit monotonous."

"It's difficult for too much variation in these types of programs. After all, the polygon count is high, and all of the movement possibilities need to be accounted for as well." Morgana said.

"Maybe," Lory replied, "But I guess that's just me. There are many different types of rooms. I especially like those candles at the corner of the raised platforms, and the small platforms in those small rooms. I like those alter things best of all. These dungeons have really cool designs."

"I'm glad you like them." Morgana said, smiling a little, "They are nice."

"…Are you a programmer, Morgana-chan?" Lory asked.

Morgana stopped. "Of sorts."

Lory smiled, "Ok, I won't press, but let's get going! We've only gone in a few rooms!"

"Right!"

Lory hacked and slashed her way through the 4-level dungeon, with Morgana assisting as needed. In between battles, Lory chateed with Morgana about this and that, but with only short responses from the latter. Morgana let Lory lead the way, since Morgana already knew the layout. Finally, the two made their way to the Gott Statue.

"All right!" Lory pumped her fist into the air, "That was a fun dungeon, right Morgana-chan?"

Morgana just shrugged, "You can have this chest, too." She gestured to the Gott Statue.

But Lory wouldn't have any of it, "C'mon, Morgana-chan, you let me take everything! Why aren't you more greedy?"

Morgana started, hearing those words before. But Lory wasn't being that serious, so she said nothing.

"Well, as least let me share." Lory said, pulling Morgana back from her thoughts.

"Really I don't want anything."

"Nonsense!" Lory opened the chest. "At least take this, as a symbol of our friendship." Lory gave Morgana a Butterfly Cap, a level 54 light headgear.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Morgana asked.

"Well, it's perfect for a Wavemaster, right?" Lory said, "I think you'll find it more useful."

"But you could still equip it." Morgana replied.

Lory frown, mildly frustrated, "Oh, c'mon, Morgana-chan, it's a present! Don't you know it's a major breach of netiquette to take all of the treasure for yourself?"

"I…" Morgana paused, choosing her words carefully. _Blasted wavering program_. "I'm not used to receiving something without the benefactor expecting anything in return."

"Well, get used to it!" Lory exclaimed happily, "Like it or not, I like giving my friends gifts, especially useful gifts."

"Thank you then, Lory." Morgana said, "I… had fun. Thank you for inviting me." Morgana disbanded the party and used a Sprite Orcarina to log out. She had much to think about.

And so Morgana-chan makes a friend! And is faced with her first issues. I hope you all liked Lory-chan! o Because she'll be popping up. Please review, and if you have any ideas of your own, please share them! For such things make my creative cogs turning!

Oh, and the Keywords are made up, so don't bother. O Next Chapter: Morgana meets anouther player and learns that human cruelty can be fought.


	3. Chapter 2: Outcast

Yay! Chapter 2! o I have taken all of your comments into consideration while re-vamping this chapter. I do realize that the description, well, was non-existant. So I remedied that with this! Ho-tcha! D I hope you all like this better then my previous chapters. Now for some Reader Response throws cookies and various plushies to all reviewers>

**quitelacking**: Yep. She'll meet up with some story characters soon, but the OCs keep this moving in the direction I want.

**Wind Kaze**: 3 Ooooh, that was a lovely review o I'm very glad everyone thinks this is really original Because of your and other reviews, I majorly edited this chapter to be more well-rounded. Thanks for the cookie D

**Aura24**: Yes, Aura-chan, here's the next chap. o

**Inv4der T4k**: spritly? Fun Obachan is rather droll, huh? Anyway, though Obachan is sort of ooc last chapter, the idea is that she's "feeling out" her new role. Yes, that'll work well...

**kitedragon**: Yep. D That's what I thought. But your review is redundant, DDD What's "GL HF"? oo

**Tarvos**: "cold bitch"? ; I guess, yeah. Well, this chap has more action and terrain. I appreciate critique, even though I like praise, too.

**Chapter 2: Outcast**

Morgana wandered around on the cobblestone streets of Mac Anu, the Water Capital on the Delta server. The water flowed between the buildings, reminiscent of Venice. The waterways permeated everywhere, gaining notice not only through the boats and piers that made up the sidewalks, but by the large bridges as well. The town gave off a calming atmosphere, with the sunset sky, the gurgling water, and the streamers that hung from the buildings.

Morgana didn't have any plans while she traversed this water-logged city, as her only companion, Lory was offline. This wasn't surprising, since it was the middle of the day, and most players had school or work to attend to. Still, Morgana walked through the Servers, since there was no alternative. If there was anything Morgana hated, it was feeling useless. However, a voice interrupted her musings.

"Excuse me, Miss." A soft voice behind her said. Morgana turned around, and saw a male Heavyblade, with a samurai design. His black hair was pulled back in a short braid, with two green slash tattoos under his soft dark green eyes, His gi and hakama were dark green with yellow blot stripes, and his armor was yellow as well. He held a narrow katana, held in place by his left hand, ready to be drawn by his right arm, which had dark green slash tattoos.

"Yes?" Morgana said in response.

The man smiled and bowed politely, "I was wondering if a lovely lady like yourself would agree to accompany me to a dungeon that's been troubling me. I'm afraid all of my other companions are offline at the moment, and you seem to be alone yourself."

"Alone?" Morgana mused. _I don't feel alone. I can always feel all of the players…_ she thought.

"Oh!" the man looked apologetic and bowed again, "I assumed too much on my part, didn't I?" he said, "Please, if you have other plans, I would not wish to impose on you, Miss." He bowed once more, as if he was unsure whether or not he seemed contrite.

"No, I don't have any plans." Morgana said, "I just never thought of myself 'being alone'" _What a humble person. Why does he bow so much?_ She thought with a touch of her former disdain.

The man cheered up, "Wonderful! My name is Nezumi. Here is my Member Address, Miss."

"My name is Morgana." She said simply, as they exchanged Member Addresses. _"Mouse"…interesting screenname_ Morgana thought, _There's always a reason behind screennames.  
_

"Then, Morgana-dono," Nezumi said, "The Keywords are Delta, Twisting, Rectangular, Void."

…_Again with the suffixes…_she thought as she nodded and walked to the Chaos Gate with the Heavyblade Nezumi.

Morgana and Nezumi gated into a blazing desert field, filled with hot orange sand, dotted with massive skeletons and dried insect exoskeletons. A programmer's nod to Dune? Perhaps. In the shadow of these remains were Snakey Cacti growing.

Before they trekked very far, Nezumi asked cordially, "Anou, Morgana-dono, may I invite you to my party?"

"Yes."

"Thank you very much, Morgana-dono." He said as he added her to his party, then bowing, "Shall we now proceed straight to the dungeon?"

Morgana nodded, and they trudged through the barren landscape. Has this been a real desert, they both would have found that they were dressed quite inappropriately. Morgana was secretly thankful that this measure of realism had yet to be added. After all, it's enough to worrying about wandering monsters without being distracted by sand in your shoes.

When they reached the gaping maw that was the dungeon, Morgana took the liberty to cast Ap Vakz, bolstering their fire resistence.

"Ah, thank you very much, Morgana-dono. I'm sre the boost will help."

"You're welcome." She said. Then she asked, "Why are you so polite?"

"I suppose… it's just the way I am." Nezumi replied, smiling, "Besides, I think it is necessary to effectively communicate with other people, don't you think?"

"…" Morgana merely walked into the protruding gullet that was the entrance to the fleshwall dungeon. Nezumi followed.

Some players mutter that the fleshwall dungeon was the sadistic working of a particulary disgruntled programmer. That, they muse, or said programmer just wanted to make a scary dungeon. Whatever the case, most players agreed that the ambience had a habit of getting under the skin. Whether it was the fact that you went down a creature's throat, or the sickening "shluck" sound your footsteps made, or the giant "tonsels" smothering half a hallway, or just the feeling that you're going to be digested any moment, it was truly creepy.

However, none of this seemed to faze either Morgana or Nezumi as they passed the first few small rooms, pausing only for Nezumi to break the eggs and open chests, of which Morgana always declined. Soon, however, there was a room with a portal.

"Are you ready, Morgana-dono?" Nezumi asked, bowing ever so slightly. With another nod from Morgana, he activated the portal with an "Alright, let's go!"

The portal spun out of existence, revealing two Hungry Grasses and a Sled Dog. "Morgana-dono!" Nezumi said, attacking a Hungry Grass, "Make sure our HP doesn't get too low! A boost wouldn't hurt, either!"

"Leave the Hungry Grass to me," Morgana said, casting a physical accuracy increase spell, "You take care of the Sled Dog."

"Right!" Nezumi did an abrupt about-face and started hitting the Sled Dog.

"Gigan Don!" Morgana cast the level 2 Earth spell on the Hungry Grasses, killing them instantly. As soon as the spells hit, she spun around, skirts twirling, and cast a MeRue Zot on the Sled Dog. Nezumi gave a few more slashes, (with a Ol Repth boost courtesy of Morgana) and the final monster fell. The monsters dissolved in gray, leaving only precious remains.

"Would you like the blue Risky Treasure, while I receive the normal yellow?" Nezumi courteously asked, bowing slightly.

But Morgana shook her head, "I don't need either one"

"Are you sure?" Nezumi asked, cocking his head, "Surely you would like something for your trouble?"

Morgana sighed, _Is everyone going to be stubborn?_ "You can take them. I don't need them."

"But I must insist…"

"I'm fine." Morgana said stiffly, annoyed.

"If you say so." Nezumi conceded, using a Fortune Wire before opening the treasure, "Last chance for a Silver Bracer." He said with a trace of a smile.

"I'll be fine, truly." Morgana said briskly.

"Ah, such a lady." Nezumi said, opening the other chest, "Unlike…"

"Unlike..?"

Nezumi sighed, "Well, in my class there are some girls, and… they aren't very civil at all."

Morgana flicked through her data on cruelty and related subjects. One word in particular seemed to fit the bill.

"Do they… tease you?" she asked.

Nezumi smiled sadly, "Yes. Ramiko-san, Kumika-san, Chimiro-san tease me the most. They make fun of me for being polite, and… petite."

"You can be rather… submissive." Morgana said, "Like calling them 'san'."

Nezumi bowed again, "Yes, I know I shouldn't… but it's just what I do."

"You're pathetic." Morgana said gently, not really meaning it, "If this was a manga, I would say, 'You're a man! Show them who's boss!'" She struck a pose.

Nezumi laughed, "It's funny seeing you being frivolous; you don't seem the type."

Morgana shrugged, "I was merely commenting, that all. But," she smiled a little, thinking of another frivolous person, "I suppose it won't hurt to joke once in a while."

"True!" Nezumi smiled, "I won't take the blame, anymore!"

Morgana paused. "What?"

"Oh well, when they tease me, Ramiko-san and the others usually go crying to the teacher, saying I pulled their hair, or stole their money."

Morgana felt something flare in her, "And what do you do about that?"

"Well, I usually just get off with a warning, but I just apologize and walk away. Some teachers see I'm polite and think it's a misunderstanding."

"And they get away with it?" Morgana asked, the flaring in her stomach increasing.

"Well, um…" Nezumi shifted, "Wait… what the..?" he pointed to the ground, hardly believing his eyes.

While Nezumi had been describing his injustices, Morgana had a hot feeling of anger boiling away within her. However, this caused some literal repercussions, and the previously sickly chartreuse walls and the floor of the dungeon were turning steadily red. As Morgana felt more anger build up, violent angry red spots were breaking out all over the dungeon surface. The giant veins throbbed at a heightened rate.

Morgana froze, cursing in her mind. She forgot about where they were, and desperately tried to calm herself down. The mad throbbing disappeared, and the red rashes shrank until the dungeon was chartreuse once more.

"What was that?" Nezumi asked, "A glitch?"

"M…maybe." Morgana said, fearful that Nezumi might suspect her.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't stay in a glitching dungeon. Let's gate out and I'll inform the Sys Admin." He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Ok." Morgana was quite shaken. She had forgotten how her emotions could effect the system.

Nezumi and Morgana logged back into Mac Anu. Nezumi was about to walk off when Morgana held him back.

"Those girls…" she said, "Don't let them get away with it." With that, she logged off.

End Chapter Two>

Yay, and Morgana needs to learn to control her temper. Whenever I copy/paste, mistakes somehow appear... well, whatever. Please review, even if it's a critique


	4. Chapter3: Vagabond

I've updated! Dammit, I've tryed uploading this so many times, but one way or anouther, my edits get deleted. TT Well, here's the Reader Review:

**xeno**: Yep, she will have an encounter soon, maybe the next chapter.

**SkeletalWings**: Yeah, the purpose of a prolouge is to usually flesh out the story, or to make it easier for the reader to read the story.

**quitelacking**: Yay! Thanks. Thanks for all the lovely AIM chats

**Inva4der T4k**: Well, here's the next chap!

**Chaos009:** Thank you! She's quite interesting, and I hope to flesh her out as a character.

**Katreda**: Yeah, Morgana. Obachan. And... I'm on someone's favorites! OO I'm so happy. YwY

**kitedragon**: Well, Obachan is still developing, thus the anger problem. Plus, there's still... complications in her core programming. But that's anouther chapter Anyway, The World always seemed pretty user-friendly, so... ; Anyway, Obachan's level depends on who's in her party. It flutucates. After all, she's not there to level up...

**re Weird**: Here it is! I still expect a review, y'know. D

**Banshou**: See, child neglect is over! ;;; I'm open to any critiques, y'know...

**Tenko**: Yay! Thanks for the compliments on my descriptions! I'm glad Obachan is in character.

Disclaimer: I, in no possible way, own any of the .hack franchise.

1010101

**Chapter 3: Vagabond**

"I talked to my teachers." Nezumi said as he and Morgana were leaning against the Mac Anu bridge one day. It was early evening, late afternoon, according to Morgana's internal atomic clock, and Nezumi ran into her about an hour ago. Nezumi invited her for small talk, watching the digital river flow.

"What about?" Morgana asked, running her gloved hand over the sanded wood grain. _Does it feel this way outside?_ She wondered idly. Morgana allowed herself the luxury to be idle now and then.

"About the girls who are teasing me." Nezumi replied almost airily.

"And?"

Nezumi smiled, "They were rather surprised, and I'm not sure if all of them quite believed me, but it's a start. I'm in no rush."

Morgana sighed a little, "You're too gentle." She said.

"Better too gentle then not gentle enough, right?" Nezumi flashed his brand of wicked grin.

"…"

Nezumi took her silence as a sign to continue. "Say, if you have a cat, is it better to treat it like spun glass, or to roughhouse with it?"

"…The former."

"Yes. I think it's a shame that there isn't more kindness nowadays." Nezumi looked up at the sky with a nostalgic gaze.

"…" _Kindness…_

"Oiiiiii! Morgana-chaaaaaaaan!"

Both Nezumi and Morgana looked toward the origin of the yell (along with a number of passersby). Lory was running toward the bridge, weaving through the crowds.

"Morgana-chan!" Lory said as she stood before her, "Hey, a friend and I need a third party member for an event, do you want to come?"

"Well…" Morgana looked over to Nezumi.

"Oh, don't mind me, Morgana-dono. Go and have fun." Nezumi smiled.

"Oh, you're with her?" Lory said, just noticing him, "Am I interrupting anything? I can go get someone else…" she scuffed the toe or her boot against the wooden planks.

"It's no trouble at all, is it, Morgana-dono?" Nezumi faced Morgana, smiling.

"No."

"See? Go ahead to your event." He smiled and bowed.

"Ah, sugoi ne!" Lory said, clapping her hands together "Didn't catch your name, though. Atashi wa Lory desu!"

"My name is Nezumi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lory-dono."

"Aww, you're cute " Lory said, "But we really should be going to the event now. Bye bye, Nezumi-kun! Come on, Morgana-chan." Lory waved goodbye at Nezumi while pulling Morgana to the Chaos Gate. However, Morgana jerked her hand out of Lory's grip, but followed at a normal pace.

"The words are Delta, Mystifying, Troublesome, Puzzle Card." Lory said.

The field of Delta, Mystifying, Troublesome, Puzzle Card looked like an ordinary lava field. Scattered around the field were groups of players, standing in groups or hanging around the giant broken weapons. All of the Twilight Onions had been stripped bare, whether because of the event or by players, it can't be certain. The tall dungeon loomed to the northeast of the warp-in point.

Lory and Morgana materialized into the field, largely unnoticed by other players. However, a Long Arm ran up to them. She had an indigo bob to the nape of her neck, and her ice blue eyes were cornered by blue spirals, which continued on her arms and made a ring on her leg. Her greaves and gauntlets were silver, while the rest of her clothes were white, lined with orange. She swung around her double-sided spear onto her shoulder like a baseball bat.

"Shake-chan!" Lory waved as the Long Arm got closer.

"Lory-chan!" Shake said in a Kansai accent, "Did ya get our third member?"

"Yep: Morgana-chan." Lory said, gesturing to Morgana.

"Pleased to meet you." Morgana said.

Shake smiled broadly, "Well, didn't 'cha pick up a polite one. Nice ta meet ya, I'm Shake-chan."

"Let's go to the event, ne?" Lory said once the introductions were made.

"Yeah!" Shake said as Lory added them both to her party.

The party ran across the steaming lava to the tall dungeon. Some players watched the party run toward the dungeon, but just as quickly lost interest.

This type of field sported a gallery dungeon. While the one in Purifying Quintessential Scent had been a soft shade of blue, the one at Mystifying Troublesome Puzzle Card was a soft red, with chessboard floors. The tapestries and flags hung here and there were a deep magenta, with matching carpets. The first hallway was unadorned, as the entrance usually was. A Fairy's Orb revealed that the mapping option wasn't allowed. "I guess we'll just follow our instincts." Shake said excitedly.

The next room was also a hallway, and the door was blocked by a (relatively speaking) large monster. This was unusual, as nearly all monsters only emerged from unopened portals. Stranger still, the monster, a sphinx, didn't attack. She smiled at the approaching party and said,

"Answer my question correctly, and ye shall not be harmed.

_It pounds rock into gravel  
Repeated again and again  
Renewed by the moon  
Its name inspires Zen_."

"Tricky…" Shake said.

'_The Moon? Sleep? No…_' Morgana thought. Aloud, she said, "What does the moon do?"

"Well, it changes phases…" Lory said, "and… I know! Controls waves! The answer is 'wave'!"

"Correct." The sphinx said, pacing out of the way. The party continued through the dungeon. It was rather straight forward, but they passed a number of red Chaos Gates, but they did not activate. "Maybe if we didn't answer correctly?" Shake remarked. Soon enough, there was another sphinx when they went down a set of stairs. This monster said,

"_A place of stability  
Though weathered and dull  
Supporting the windcatcher  
Ulysses' siren pole._"

"Huh?" Lory aptly said.

"Ulysses…" Morgana's remark hung in the air.

"Ulysses is the hero in the Greek poet Homer's epic poems, _The Iliad_, and _The Odyssey_. He also goes by Odysseus." Shake replied.

"He is? I've never read it." Lory said, a tad sheepishly, "So what's a siren?"

"Hehe, adults don't know everything, huh? " Shake said, grinning, "Anywho, Odysseus meets with sirens – a monster that sings really pretty and lures sailors to crash on their rocks – and he warns his sailors. But he orders them to tie him to the mast, so he can hear."

"A mast is the answer, then?" Lory said.

"Correct." Shake and the sphinx behind her chimed.

101010101

_"The end of disaster  
A hard word to tell  
It's human to do  
The place where the sick dwell."  
_

"…I'm totally lost." Shake said.

"Me too." Lory said.

"It's 'er'"

"Huh?" the two women said in unison.

"The answer is 'er'." Morgana repeated as the sphinx said "Correct"

"How'd ya get that, Morgana-chan?" Shake said.

"The end of the word 'diaster' is 'er'. 'A hard word to tell', people say 'er' when they're thinking. It is human to 'err'. The last one refers to the Emergency Room, or ER."

"Wow, too hard for an old lady like me. ;P" Lory said, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head.

"No way ;)" Shake said, "I'm just a 16-year-old kid in high school, but ya ain't no old lady."

"True. 26 is anything but old. " Lory laughed as they made their way down to the next floor.

After a few room's silence, Shake broke it by asking, "By the way, Morgana-chan, how old are ya?"

"Oh, well..." Morgana paused. She existed for only a few years, a small child in human terms. But she had a higher mental capacity for the most part. Morgana was trying to think of a convincing age, but Lory interrupted her thoughts with "If you don't want to say, it's alright."

"Yeah, that's right." Shake chimed in.

"Thank you. Those questions are difficult to answer." Morgana said, which was true enough.

"I can understand." Shake said consolably, "There can be really weird people, sometimes. Once a middle aged guy came onto me! Just a block away from school!"

"Kyaa, no way, that's creepy!" Lory squealed girlishly, "What'd you do?"

"I told him to get lost, and when he didn't, I punched him." She imitated the motion in the air.

"Sounds… painful." Morgana added.

"Well, he was bad news, and he wouldn't leave me alone. But listen, listen!" Shake grinned, "I punched him just as my older brother was getting off of work! Now he thinks I'm violent. O"

"That's because you are. ¬w¬" Lory said, grinning and playfully pushing Shake's arm.

"Oi, I seem to recall when I had to restrain ya from PKing those two creeps. ¬x¬"

"Well, it's not like you can get hurt by a game. ;"

At this comment, before she could stop herself, Morgana said, "That's not true."

"Eh?" Shake and Lory said at the same time, "What do ya mean?" Shake asked.

"Well…" if Morgana was hesitant, she took care not to show it, "Emotion damage. Even if you're not hurt physically, the intent is still there."

"Yes, that true." Lory said, "It is important to consider others' feelings."

Eventually, the three-woman party reached the last room, where a another, larger sphinx was standing. When the trio stepped up, the sphinz said,

"_The answer to the riddles three  
Is the one that can defeat me._"

With this, red words, "BATTLE MODE" appeared at the top of theirs screens, and the sphinx started attacking them. Morgana took her place as healer, while Shake and Lory started attacking the monster. However, even though there was "Magic Tol." next to the monster's name, their physical attacks seemed to have no effect. They both went through all of there offensive skills and spells, but none worked. "Wait, the riddle!" Lory said, "That's the answer!"

"The answer from the riddles?" Shake said, dodging a strike from the sphinx, "they were…"

"Er, wave, and mast!" Lory shouted.

There was a pause as they both were healed after a Fire spell. "Wavemaster!" Lory shouted.

"That is me!" Morgana said for the first time, "Out of the way!"

"But there's a Magic Tol!" Shake said as she and Lory stepped aside.

"Then I'll attack it." Morgana flipped onto her hands and used the floor to thrust a kick at the sphinx. Red numbers appeared, "8940"; an instant kill.

A chest appeared with the resulting silence.

"Wow, that was a good event." Lory said.

"Yeah; It played off of people's assumptions." Shake said.

"…" Morgana opened the chest and lifted the items inside. There was a Wavemaster-only item called Magnolia Gloves, along with two hand items called Thebes' Savior.

"Morgana-chan, why don't you take the Wavemaster gloves, and we'll take the other two?" Lory suggested.

"All right. Thank you." Morgana replied, equipping the Magnolia Gloves.

** end chapter 3>**

"sugoi ne!" cool!  
"Atashi wa Lory desu!" "atashi" is a corruption of "watashi", a polite way of saying "I". This says "I'm Lory."

And after 5 attempts, I load! Mwahaha! Anyway, please don't hesitate to drop a review! Also, is being stupid, so I can't add spaces...


	5. Chapter 4: Encounter

Note: Some of my symbols aren't working...

Urgh, about halfway through this, I have writer's block (at "forget it, Grove"). Damn. I can't wriiiiite thiiiiss. ;; Waugh, please review, guys, it's one of the best things to kill writer's block. Die! >o

Well, writer's block is gone! After I got all the levels in We

Thank you all soooo much for your lovely reviews! - I can't do responses, but the reply system is pretty nice… anyway, you all make me happy! Thank you!

**Chapter 4: Encounter**

It had been two weeks since the Sphinx Riddle Event. Morgana mostly wandered around the Root Towns, sometimes chatting with passing players, sometimes trading with others. She didn't really care about items, rare or not, but some players, attracted by her unusual design, insisted on seeing her humble inventory. She sometimes went with an incomplete party looking for a Wavemaster or merely a third member.

Right now, she was perched on the barrel of a cannon in Lia Fail. Morgana absently rocked her legs back and forth over the cloudy abyss the cannon was pointed over. Elsewhere, it would have been impressive, but it was not within the laws of the game to actually go over the edge. Morgana knew without trying that a player would merely run into and bump against an invisible wall.

"Rather precarious position you're sitting in, doesn't you think?"

Morgana blinked, and turned her head toward the speaker. It was another Wavemaster, of the short male type. He had dusty gray robes with lighting bolts of muted yellow, and the gloves that went to his elbow were a dark gray. All this contrasted with his blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was leaning against the short wall next to the cannon, a smile tugging at his lips.

"It's not as if I could fall," Morgana replied coolly, turned her head back, "So it isn't truly 'precarious'."

The Wavemaster leaned over to look Morgana in the face, "But the illusion is there. After all, I cannot see anything that would prevent you from falling to oblivion."

"But you know that there is a programmed barrier." Morgana said.

"Come now," The Wavemaster put his staff in the crook of his arm and hoisted himself to sit next to Morgana on her strange bench, "an online game like this is much more enjoyable if you pretend things aren't programmed."

Morgana cocked her head, her interesting piqued, "How so?"

"Well," the Wavemaster gave a wily smile, "What if I pushed you?"

Morgana sniffed1, "That isn't possible; that action and reaction isn't in the programming. If you tried to push me, I wouldn't move because I cannot move off of here."

"That is just what I mean!" he exclaimed, "Stop thinking in terms of computers and programs. In case you haven't notice, The World is a fantasy setting." He softly smiled, "It's meant be enjoyed as it appears. I believe that if players take The World as it is, they will get more out of the experience."

"You have a strong case, but…" Morgana sighed, "I have a hard time forgetting about the programs that dictate this game."

"That's alright." He smiled again, "I just don't like it when some players make fun of others for… appreciating the graphics."

"Hmm?"

"Well, for a specific example, say Mr. A and Mr. B are in a flesh wall dungeon. Mr. A is disturbed by the organ-like rooms and hanging skeletons. Mr. B scoffs, saying that it isn't really mucus on the walls and floors, there aren't really any bodies decomposing. It's all fake. But I don't like calling the environments fake. After all, even if the dungeon doesn't exist outside of the game, the feelings impressed on Mr. A are real."2

"Very true." Morgana admitted, nodding, "But it does not do to dwell on dreams."

"Ah-ah!" The Wavemaster shook his finger, "But what use is a dream if not to be enjoyed? Of course, it is unhealthy to be obsessed, but why not enjoy what you can?"

"You're quite skilled at rhetoric." At that comment, he smiled, and then laughed. "What is so funny?" Morgana asked, frowning.

The Wavemaster shifted on the piece of artillery, still grinning. "Nothing, it's nothing important. It's just humorous that you think I'm a skilled speaker." He said, waving his hand.

There was a small pause. Morgana turned to the Wavemaster and asked, "I don't believe you've given your name."

He laughed again, "I didn't; but neither did you, huh? It's Lane."

"Morgana."

"Then it's an honor to meet you, Phantom Queen."

She blinked, "What?"

Lane chuckled, "I'm sorry. In Irish mythology, which is where most of The World's names and things are derived from, there was a goddess name Morrigan, or Morgana in English, "

"Continue." She prompted, intrigued.

"Morrigan, sometimes Morrigu, was the Celtic goddess of war. She was represented as a hooded crow, a crow with white on its breast and neck, and sometimes was seen as a trio of goddesses, including Badb, the goddess of strife, and Macha, the personification of battle."

"Macha is…"

"The personification of battle, yes. It was also said she ate human heads. May I continue?"

Morgana smiled a bit, and then said, "That's interesting. Go on."

Lane smiled, "Right. As I was saying, Morrigan was the goddess of battle, sometimes seen as a trio, and her symbol was the carrion bird, the hooded crow. She played an active part in the Cuchulain myth as well. Not only did she curse him when he refused her love, but she appeared as the Washer Woman, a phantom woman who is seen washing the clothes of the soon-to-be dead. It's even said that the three old women who weakened Cuchulain by forcing him to break one of his oaths were Morrigan. And when he died, tied to a pillar of stone to die on his feet, he enemies knew he was dead when a hooded crow landed on his shoulder to feast on his corpse."

"So she represents battle and death?"

Lane pursed his lips, "I suppose so, but she was not evil; she was an essential part of the Celtic pantheon. Anyway, in Arthurian legend, after Christianity was introduced to the British Isles, Morrigan was integrated as Morgan Le Fay, Arthur's evil half sister. Morrigan was thus vilified from the phantom that healed Arthur on her Isle of Apples, Avalon, to becoming Arthur's half sister, thus mortal, and his nemesis. So, in essence, when Christ came to Ireland, Morrigan ceased being a goddess."

Morgana was quiet for a long while, digesting what Lane had said. So she was named after the goddess of battle and death. Did that make Aura Christ? After all, she was born on Christmas Day, if her clock was correct. So the old divinity was ousted by the new. A sad parallel that cut too close for her comfort. They both had similar names, and even had a goddess named Macha… So this was it? Was she to wander forever in a realm that was no longer hers? But what could she do? Usurp Aura? Morgana beat that plan into the ground, and it only destroyed her. Aura would probably have wised up to her presence by now, she was probably keeping tabs on her, just to make sure she was a good girl. The thought filled her with a mix of morose agitation. The sky darkened somewhat. Her thoughts we interrupted when Lane spoke.

"Morgana? Are you alright?" Lane asked, concerned. The sky lit back up.

"Oh, yes, I just…"

"Didn't know the history of your name?" he suggested.

"Yes, it's… interesting. Well," Morgana turned to Lane, "What about you? Why the name 'Lane'?"

"Because my brother got 'Grove'."

"I don't understand." Morgana said.

"That's ok." Lane's avatar froze for a moment, and then he looked toward Morgana, "Speaking of which, there's an event today for Twin Blades and my brother is competing in it."

"That would be the Twofold Master event, correct?" Morgana said. She had heard a couple of players talking about it. "Where is it?"

Lane hopped down from the cannon and offered his hand to help Morgana down. When her feet touched the stone, he said, "I'm glad you asked, because I was wondering if you'd like to come with me. It's at Lambda: Triumphant Battling Twins."

"Yes, I will come with you." Morgana said, joining Lane in warping to the Lambda Server.

"Welcome all players, to the Twofold Master Event!" a smallish admin announced into a microphone atop a platform. "To explain the rules of the event, please welcome System Administrator Balmung!" There was a wild burst of applause, shouts, shrieks, whistles, and other enthusiastic noises as the winged admin came onto the stage.

"Thank you, Reki, and my fans, for that wonderful introduction." He paused for more shouts and yells, then continued, "Yes, thank you. Now, the Twofold Master is a contest for all Twinblade class characters to test their mettle against all who have gathered here. As you can see," Balmung made a sweeping gesture over the stone-strewn wasteland area, "We have prepared a field especially for this event. The proceedings will be as such: After all Twinblades register with Reki" here he pointed to the smaller admin at a side table, "a random selector will place the participants to fight, tournament style. Because of the massive turnout, participants will be divided up into four blocks: A, B, C and D. As for the prizes, we'll find out about those when we come upon the winners! Now, who wants to win?" The crowd let out an exhilarated shout, "That's what I want to hear! When you're prepared, register so we can begin when the bell chimes in fifteen minutes!" With that speech, some players rushed the registration table, while those less prepared warped back to the Root Town.

Lane led Morgana around the mobbing players to spectator stands that were set up for the event. "Grove said he would meet us here as soon as he could." Lane said, finding good seats a few rows from the front.

"You see him?" a female Heavy Axeman in pink asked as soon as they both sat down.

"Excuse me?" Morgana said, surprised. "Who?" Lane asked.

The Axeman clasped her hands together with a dreamy sigh, "Oh, much wonderful player, Kite! He is the cool red Twinblade!"

Morgana froze at the name. But Lane said, "Uh, your Japanese is…"

"Much bad, yes I know." The Heavy Axe, "I not be speaking Japanese first; I try to learn, though I bad."

"What language do you normally speak?" Morgana asked.

"English." She responded.

"**Oh, how lucky you are, then.**" Lane said in English, "**For that's my first language, too!**"3

"**You speak English?**" the Heavy Axe said in a British accent, "**Oh thank God, Japanese is hard, and my grammar is simply atrocious. And some people make fun of my accent!**"

"**Your grammar leaves something to be desired, but your accent is acceptable.**" Morgana said, shocking them both.

"**M-morgana, you speak English?**" Lane asked incredulously.

"**Quite fluently.**" Morgana said matter-of-factly.

"**Wow, who would have thought that I would meet two people who spoke English!**" The Heavy Axe said, "**Lucky me!**"

"**I'd say.**" Lane said, "**My name is Lane, by the way, and this is Morgana.**"

"**Pleased to make your acquaintance.**" Morgana said.

"**That's cool. My name's Kettle. Nice to meet you as well.**" Kettle said, "**Both of you speak with an American accent, so I take it you're both American?**"4

"**I am, but I'm living in Japan right now.**" Lane said.

"**That's brilliant! I'm in an exchange program. I'm getting better at Japanese, but it's so difficult!**"

"**You just gotta get a hang of the grammar. After that, it's simple.**" Lane said.

"**Oh, could you both teach me? That way, I can learn online as well.**" Kettle asked.

"**Sure! I'll be glad to!**" Lane said, "**Right, Morgana?**"

"**I will try.**"

"**Thank you both so very much!**" Kettle said.

"Hey! Bro!" a red and orange ninja-type Twinblade with gold armor dashed up the steps to when the three were sitting, "Sorry I'm late, there was a mad dash at the registration table."

"No, it's ok." Lane said. Turning around, he introduced the Twinblade, "Morgana, Kettle, this is Grove."

"Nice to meet you." Morgana and Kettle both said. 5

"Aw, bro, no wonder you didn't miss me, you had two lovely ladies to keep you company!" Grove said, winking.

"I only just met them, bro." Lane said, smiling nonetheless.

"I much flattered by you speak, Grove." Kettle said.

"**I think for Kettle's sake, it'd be easier to speak in English.**" Lane said.

"**Yes, please**" Kettle said, embarrassed by her poor Japanese, "**Thank you.**"

Grove shrugged, "**Ok. I'm gonna be in the D block, so wish me luck, ok?**"

"**We will!**"

"**And dear Kite is in B block…**"

"Eh?"

"Forget it, Grove." Lane said. A chime dinged through the field. "Well, that's the bell. Good luck!"

"Right!" Grove ran off toward the mass of Twinblades in the D block.

Since the D block would be last, Morgana and company ambled to the A block to watch the matches. They managed to find good seats before they were all taken, thanks to Lane, who used a Speed Charm and dove onto a bench for the slower Kettle and Morgana.

The first match was between a dark assassin type and a petite female. "The first match of the Twofold Master event will be between players Sora and Hayate!" the administrator, Reki, said from the admin platform. "I hope both of you are adequately prepared, because it is time to begin! Start!"

Morgana started. It was _that_ Sora. The silly PK that she Data Drained so long ago. Judging by the eager grin and the glinting eyes, he wasn't the worst for wear. Of course, looks could be deceiving. When start was announced, his grin widened and he mowed the other Twinblade, Hayate, down. The match was over in mere seconds. Morgana excused herself and walked off. She didn't want this ghost of her past to find her.

"Oh! Um…" No one anticipated such a quick victory, least of all Reki, "Er, yes. The winner is Sora!" from the shocked audience came applause. Reki leaned over to a frowning Balmung, who was standing next to him, "Hey, Balmung-san, who decided to put a level 99 with a level 34?" Balmung sighed, "The match-ups were random. Level had nothing to do with it."

"If you say so…" Reki said, hand over his mike "Oh, up next..!"

While Reki was playing emcee, Balmung walked off to another part of the field. It was tiring having all those eyes on you, those whispers and girlish (and some boyish) giggles, even if it was diverted by an event. Sometimes his coveted wings and the status that went with them were tiring.

Balmung didn't have a destination in mind; he just wandered and pushed his way through the crowd and his fans. He finally found an empty space in a grove of trees, occupied only by a woman in a red dress. 'Wait… wasn't she..? It's that player from the admin room!' Balmung thought. But he keep calm and asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?" The woman looked up and paused before nodding her head. Balmung sank down onto the grass about a meter from her. 6

Morgana was a little surprised when Balmung entered into her clearing. Fortunately, he didn't seem to recognize her from when she first materialized in the admin "field". Morgana certainly wouldn't remind him.

Balmung broke the silence first: "How long have you been playing The World?" A harmless question. Morgana thought upon her answer, then said, "I've been around for a long time, but I haven't played like this in awhile."

Balmung nodded, silent. They both sat there for a few moments, then Balmung asked, "And how did you get into the Administration Field?" Balmung's eyes glinted dangerously, "Only Sys Admins can enter, under normal circumstances, and there has not been a new admin with your description."

Morgana gave him a slightly appraising look. This was not the enthusiastic admin with the weird events. This was the Descendant of Fianna, Souten no Balmung 7, the man who told Kite to draw his sword those years ago. Against this adversary, she chose her words carefully. This required tact and wit.

"Balmung," she said, smiling ever so slighting with a hint of danger, "it gladdens me that you have slipped back into your old role."

"What do you mean?" Balmung wasn't on his feet yet, but it was obvious that he would be at the first sign of danger.

"When you were first around, you were a serious young man, grimly determined to protect The World from evil." Morgana's upper lip lifted, exposing her teeth and making her smile closer to a sneer, "But more recently you have been acting like a puerile fool, skipping and prancing through infantile events you create. It seems that you age in the wrong direction Balmung!"

Balmung was on his feet now, eyes narrowing, "You…"

Morgana was also on her feet, frowning and shouting at him, "The World isn't your little wonderland, Balmung! Because of this, not only am I angry and insulted, I'm disappointed most of all! Heavens forbid that Balmung should act like a child!" Balmung was speechless, trembling with anger, but Morgana wasn't finished, "You said yourself that adults shouldn't interfere with your playground. While it's true the game should always be fun, that doesn't mean you can trivialize me!"

They both started, catching the slip. Nonetheless, Morgana still held the fire in her belly, while Balmung exercised more caution.

"Who said anything about you?" Balmung said coolly.

Morgana was panting with her shouting, her nostrils flared, "Forget it. Go back and indulge the fans with your scintillating presence." she said venomously.

"Wait." He reached forward and grabbed her wrist. Morgana violently threw him off, "Get off of me! Don't touch me!"

"Morgana?"

Both Morgana and Balmung turned their heads; Lane had entered the grove. "Eh, yes? What is it, Lane?" Morgana said, quickly regaining her composure, absently smoothing a strand of her hair.

"Well, the D block is up next, so I thought I'd come get you…" he looked from Morgana, to Balmung, and back again, "is everything ok?" he asked in a worried uncertain tone.

Morgana released a breath of air, and put a hand to her head "Yes, Lane, everything is fine. Let's go cheer on Grove."

"That woman… could she be…" Balmung muttered as he watched their receding backs.

The crowd was, to put it bluntly, going absolutely nuts.

Blocks A, B, C, and D were already finished, and the four winners were about to duke it out. As before, Reki was announcing while Balmung just sat there ("being pretty" Lane whispered to Morgana and a giggling Kettle).

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have come to the semifinals of the Twofold Master event! Let me take this time to thank all of the participants so far for coming. Those who failed will receive a special consolation prize." Reki paused as there was a murmuring amoung the crowd, "So, to continue. The semifinalists are the players Sora, Kite, Moonstone, and Grove.8 We will now use a random generator to set up the matches!" Reki stepped aside from a screen behind him with four empty slots. There was a brief pause and the slots were filled with four names, one in each.

"And the results are as follows!" Reki said into the mike, "For the first semifinal match will be between Sora and Moonstone!" Reki was interrupted from many screams and shrieks from a group of mostly girls. "I love you, Soraaaaa!" "Marry me, Moonstone!" "Teach me how to be cool!" "I WANT TO BE YOU!" screamed one insane Sora look-alike9.

"…Um, moving right along," Reki said, rather disturbed, "The second match will be between Kite and Grove!" Reki paused again for screaming fans, mostly girls proclaiming love. Reki continued, "So, after those two matches take place, the winners of each will move into the finals for one last battle. The final winner will be declared to be the Twofold Master, and get a wonderful one-of-a-kind prize! Of course, the semifinalists will get special prizes as well, but please try your best!

"Now, first semifinals match! Sora, Moonstone, good luck, and… begin!"

1010101

1 Morgana doesn't snort, she sniffs like a lady. XD

2 It's actually "A-san" and "B-san", but I find it easier and less awkward to limit Japanese to the honorifics, because those are hard to translate fully.

3 Bold will be English, Japanese will be normal

4 Lane and Morgana are speaking in a "normal" American accent. Like on TV. Why does Morgana speak in an American accent? My excuse: because Harald worked on The World in America. It's true, look in /AI buster u Yes, that'll work nicely… No, it's not a plothole, I swear! O

5 Why doesn't Kettle have poor Japanese here? Because "Pleased/nice to meet you" is a phrase, "Hajimemashite". Yep.

6 I'll probably be using mostly metric for this fic, since Japan (and most of the world) uses it. Lane will most likely use both, since he's an American.

7 "Souten" means "Azure Sky", "no" is a possessive. So "Souten no Balmung" is "Azure Sky/Heaven's Balmung", or "Balmung of the Azure Sky/Heaven". I find the English translation awkward and unwieldy for me to type and say, so I'm taking a bit of license here. For those who are curious, "Descendant of Fianna" is "Fianna no Matsuei" in Japanese. nn

8Why are most of the semifinalists canon characters? Well, logical, I thought it made sense. Kite is strong because of his adventure. Who hasn't leveled up to 99 for the last dungeon? Moonstone is there because 1. He was part of Kite's party, thus is strong from that, and 2. he desires to be strong. He does play for two hours every morning! ; And Sora… he's just plain strong. 0 Seriously, he's always killed with one or two hits, and Death only happens 15 of the time (supposedly). So that's my logical explanation D

9 …Now that's just scary. oo I tried to make the fanpeople borderline creepy.

Wow, that chapter was a _lot_ longer then normal (with a lot of notes! ; Sorry about that). And Lane-kun and Kettle-chan appears! Originally, Kettle wasn't invented until when I wrote her scene. And even then she was only there to point out Kite. But I decided to make her a character, because there's another in the wings… hehehe… Anyway, Kettle had a lot of name revisions, from Alice to Susan, then finally to Kettle. Strange, huh? Grove was also made so Lane would have a reason to go to the event, but I like him, too. FYI, Grove looks like a normal "ninja" type Twin Blade. Originally he was blue and white, but I always imagined him as orange and red, with gold armor… he has blue eyes and black hair, by the way. Kettle wears a pale pink, a Subaru-type Heavy Axe, with a twisty heart necklace and li'l white wings. Her hair is black and goes to the base of her neck.

Now then, there is one more thing for you guys to know! **THIS IS IMPORTANT, SO READ IT!** Who should win the event? I'm (mostly) leaving it up to you! However, I have requirements! So please write the following in your review:

1. First of all, whom do you _want_ to win? This is just opinion, but if you provide a reason why, it'll count for more

2. (Honestly now,) who _should_ win? Who would be most likely to win? Though I haven't given any info on Grove, so…

If there's a tie, I have a solution in mind, but I really want you to be involved with this! If you've never dropped a review, do so now!

And now, Random Omake!

Morgana: But you can't push me off

Lane: Oh yeah, watch me! push

Morgana: goes careening AAAAAAAHHHHH!

Random Omake: Creepy

Random Fan: I WANT TO BE YOU!

Sora: OO Uh…

Random Fan: jumps on stage IF YOU DIE, I WILL BE THE TRUE SORA! MWAHAHAHA! draws knife

Sora: No way, dumbass stabs

Random Fan: I REGRET NOTHING! Xx

Guest Random Omake from reweird:

Narrator: A wild burst of applause, shouts**, shrieks**, whistles, and other enthusiastic noises as the winged admin came onto the stage.

Random person: Oh my god, there's a PK here who just killed someone!

Another random person: Run away! a stampede of players

Steeple333: Sora! Stop messing with the script!

Sora: grins mischievously

Wow, my sister knows my favorite character. nn Hahaha.


	6. Chapter 5: Tournament

Yay! I updated! Finally! Anyway... I tried my best with the fight scenes, but I puked out on it. nn; Forgive me. Also, is being a bitch, so I can't use some symbols. Damn.

Anyway, if you like this fic, please read "Log On!" nn It's a very good story. And she gave me advertising, so I must return the favor!

01000111011011110110111101100100

Chapter 5: Tournament

The audience exploded with noise for the first match of the semifinals. Two doppelgangers faced each other. One dark, but flippant, the other dressed gaudily, but stoic. It was an interesting standoff. The similarities were startling, not only in their appearance (which could easily be done), but their demeanor (which could not). While Moonstone was more serious and laconic then Sora, both were eager to start the battle, and finish it to the end.

Moonstone said, "…Be strong."

"Of course." Sora replied.

No more words were said; the moment became charged. Sora leaped at his opponent, katars drawn and flashing, releasing the previous tension. Moonstone went back with the force and blocked it with his own blades; he released the parry, feinting to the right and jabbing to Sora's side. Quite an effective maneuver for an opponent with one weapon, but Sora parried both blades and kicked Moonstone back in the chest, sending him skidding across the arena.

"…The Hanged Man." Moonstone used a scroll on Sora, inflicting the status effect Paralysis on Sora.

"Crap." Sora muttered as he started mashing the triangle button in vain as his character flashed yellow and froze. 1 Moonstone, meanwhile, was taking advantage of the status and was busy unleashing combo after combo, effectively draining Sora's HP. By the time the paralysis effect wore off on Sora, his HP was a third gone. 2 The battle continued.

011010100110111101100010

Supreme Defense… Kite cannot kill me. His bracelet is no more. I will defeat him, and I will live. Cobernik will survive, I will survive. In the void comes Cobernik. The end will be the beginning of a new life for me, as The World descends into Twilight… No one will ever disturb me.

00101110

"MeVak Kruz!" Sora used a scroll to unleash fireball doom onto Moonstone, taking away a chunk of his HP. They both went back and forth, attacking and counterattacking, whatever temporary advantage making no headway. Sora and Moonstone matched each other step for step, move for move. They both were evenly matched; this would be a close win.

010110010110111101110101

What… Aura… and those that got in my way. A Wavemaster, two Blademasters, a group, and… the Twinblade only spoke in childish sound effects. This… pang of nostalgia is strange.

No matter. They will not shatter it, even if it is cracked. A scream, and Kite… no! The defense was complete! I must… change again… and they will know the true extent of my power.

0110011001101111011101010110111001100100

The two fighters circled each other in a pause in the battle. This could take awhile, they were both strong, the same tactics, and thus predictable: the fall of any warrior.

The same tactics…

Sora got a brainwave; he adjusted his stance. It had been so long for him, he nearly forgot… How could he forget? It'd be just like old times. Sora launched himself at Moonstone like a dark dart from a crossbow, katars drawn. Moonstone put his own blades up, waiting for the attack that would come. However, instead of thrusting or slashing, Sora withdrew his katars with a metallic shink, leapt up and twisted in the air above Moonstone, putting a hand on his shoulder. Not relinquishing his grip, Sora let the momentum carry him down behind Moonstone. As he was falling, he quickly pressed his fist against Moonstone's back and drew out his katars, stabbing him. Sora then kicked away from him.

This was different. Such a flashy move… it'd be useless on a monster, it would only waste time for minimal damage. But it got past his defense, and neither of them had any more recovery items. He would have to account for this.

Sora was stationary, his eyes glittering as he looked at his opponent. This is what he needed: a different tactic. It had been years since he had PK'ed players left and right, ever since those idiots at CC Corp decided to remove the option. Because of that, Sora begrudgingly admitted to himself, he had gotten rusty. Fighting monsters and fighting people required a completely different style. With monsters, all that matters is to hit as much and as hard as possible, while keeping your health up. Not too difficult. But people think. They adapt to their opponents, block and counterattack any offense thrust at them. If most factors were done away with, like speed and strength, then surprise was a great factor indeed. Time to go back, back to the methods that made him the most feared PK in The World.

0110110101111001

Drain Heart… they will die for defying me. One, two, three branching treads of data streamed off. The server almost crashed, but… that would not be satisfying. I will deal with them myself.

First the Blademaster; he is drained in a flurry of those feathers. Now her… she is dear to Kite; it will demoralize him. She disappeared in pink petals. Now there is only Kite. He will die.

…Fool. Did Elk think that sacrificing himself would make any difference? He is weak, and his affection has only made him feel pain…

011010000110100101100100011001000110010101101110

Moonstone was being pushed back, so to speak. Sora was using moves from a lost occupation. He was holding his own, but he couldn't keep up such a defense for long against this erratic assault. Sora utilized the terrain, jumping, ducking, hiding, and attacking from amoung the rocks. It was impossible to predict where the former PK would strike next. He seemed to disappear and reappear randomly. He could feel the beginnings of panic buzzing in his brain; he quickly quelled it. This was no time to panic; he needed to fight back.

01101110011011110111010001100101

What… what… how… did this happen? Kite's moving closer, closer, too close! Get away! Don't touch me! Go away! Don't… don't hurt me! I… I….

00101110

Moonstone blocked the next attack, and unleashed a brutal force upon Sora, who took it all. Sora didn't expect him to merely use brute force. It was because it was a basic and inelegant tactic that he fell prey to it. Both players' HP was now in the red. The next player to land a hit would win.

Sora smiled, and the smile widened into a grin. "How fun!" he said, "This is great! I haven't had a worthy battle in forever!"

Moonstone, still wary but with like mind, said, "…Same."

"Let's end this and make history!"

With a nod from each, they launched themselves at each other with insane speed. Faster and faster they went, their feet hardly touching the ground in half flight. Closer and closer the two came, it would be over in a few seconds.

010011110110111001100101

I don't want to die...!

011100100110010101100110011001010111001001100101011011100110001101100101

A great gasp came from the audience as the two clashed; everything was still. Both Sora and Moonstone had their weapons embedded into the other. The next couple of second ticked by like hours as everyone drank in what happened. Then the spell broke and a black cloud erupted around Moonstone, with red letters spelling "Death". Moonstone fell, graying, then rematerialized on the announcement stage; Sora had won.

"…" Moonstone bowed his head, disappointed but oddly fulfilled.

"…The winner is Sora!" Reki said, recovering.

"Yaaaay!" Sora exclaimed, jumping around the arena in childish glee, making little sound effects as he bounced amoung the stone. He stopped momentarily, and ran up to the stage. With a small "Pyon", he jumped and spun, landing on the stage with a "Ta-da!"

Moonstone watched him with hidden eyes, saying nothing.

"I meant what I said," Sora said, "That was really fun. If I didn't have the 'Death' effect, maybe you could've gotten lucky." He winked, "Even though you died first, I only have 20 HP left. You cut that pretty close!"

Moonstone targeted Sora. It was true; his HP was at a nearly non-existent 20.

"So, let's fight again sometime! I don't want to be rusty. What do you say?" Sora held out his hand.

Moonstone looked at the proffered hand, and shook it.

"Wow! That was a great fight, right, Morgana?" Lane said, clapping along with the audience at the winner.

"…Hmm? Oh, yes. It was an… interesting display."

"…You weren't watching, huh?" Lane said, grinning.

Morgana was surprised at Lane's perception, "Er, no. I was… thinking about the past."

"Well, that's ok, but these fights are interesting, you should at least watch them."

"Ok. I will." Morgana watched as Sora flashed peace signs at the audience. Everyone was shouting, asking for his Member Address, each trying to make themselves heard. While Sora ignored them, he still all accepted Member Addresses sent to him by newfound fans.

After the fans quieted down, Balmung took the microphone from Reki's hand and said to the keyed up crowd, "Very good match, both of you. I think they deserve a hand, don't they, folks?" Wild cheers erupted from the crowd as thunderous applause shook the stands, "Our next match will be between the players Kite and Grove!" more applause as the two Twinblades stepped into the fighting area, "Everyone ready? Begin!"

"I get to fight the legendary .hacker, huh?" Grove said.

"I guess, yeah." Kite responded.

"So it's true; people said you were very modest." Grove smiled.

"Well, I just did what I had to…" Kite said, "But we should probably start, right?"

"Good point. Let's go!"

They both launched at each other, releasing multi-hit combos in midair, and then turning to leap up into the air again. It was a more direct fight then it was with Sora and Moonstone's match. Kite had the advantage, since he was five levels higher then Grove, and thus had higher stats, but Grove managed to hold his own for a while.

Grove moved about a lot, ducking and weaving between the rocky outcrops and striking Kite when he found an opening. Because of the level difference, he was forced to use these hit-and-run methods, but it may sustain him through the match.

No such chance; Kite pursued him where he went, aided by an Ap Do he had cast. Grove was forced to go head to head with Kite.

It was fast-paced, a barrage of blows and blocks from both parties, furiously pounded out in rapid tempo. Left, left, right, duck, thrust, X-slash, block, back, left-right, stab, duck, jump – Grove landed on a rock, kicking away a muttering Root Vegetable. Kite switched his weapons to a pair of katars and dove toward Grove with one blade outstretched. 3 Grove blocked with both blades in a cross shape and smiled.

"Do you know why I'm smiling, Man in Red?" Grove asked.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not left-handed."

Kite was confused, "What? We both have two weapons."

Grove sighed, then broke the parry and jumped back to the ground, "Never mind."

The battle continued at the fast pace of before. Grove could only block four out of five hits, and once the "Death" effect cause him to go into the red. Kite switched weapons back to Prepare to Die and left himself open. Grove delivered a blow, but it left his own defenses open for a stab from Kite, and Grove's HP was reduced to 0.

Away up at the admin's stand, Grove regenerated next to Moonstone. "**Aw man,**" Grove moaned, "Ah well, I guess the best won, right, Kite?"

Kite's response was drowned out by the uproarious noise from the crowd as soon as they realized who won. There were many more cheers and adorations for Kite, along with support from fans of Grove. In fact, a group of female Long Arms Whispered to Grove that they could PK Kite, an offer which Grove soundly refused.

"That was awesome!"

"Wow, that was short, huh?"

"Well, they did have a level difference…"

"Oh, be quiet, Zaiten! You're boring!"

"B-but…"

Morgana turned from the noise of the crowds when Lane tugged on her sleeve. Looking at him quizzically, he pointed to a spot of pink in the crowd surging around Kite. The pink splotch then let out a shriek of joy and clambering back up the stands, and the pink dot turned into Kettle. She was out of breath but smiling. Her eyes gleamed as she exclaimed, "**I got it! I actually got it! I'm so happy**"

"**About what?**" Lane asked.

Kettle clasped her hands and sighed, "**Oh! I got an Ivory Barrette from him! I'll treasure it forever**" she took it out of her inventory and snapped it onto her hair. 4

Suppressing a laugh, but smiling nonetheless, Lane said, "**Good for you, Kettle-chan.**"

"**Thank you very much, Lane-kun**." She glowed. She then leaned over to say to Morgana, "**How are you enjoying the tournament, Morgana?**"

She shrugged, "**I'm not all that interested, to tell the truth.**"

"**Oh, really?**" Kettle asked, her enthusiasm wearing off. Morgana shook her head.

"**Ok, how about we'll meet you back here when the tournament is done? How's that?**" Lane said kindly. Morgana nodded and left.

She wandered around the area, though it wasn't all that interesting. The arena was rock-strewn, but the rest of the area was a copse. There were a few players milling about. A Long Arm and a Fighter were talking about the odds of each player, and a Heavyblade stuck her sword in the ground and leaded against it, falling asleep in the digital sun. Walking away a few paces, she settled under a magnolia tree amoung a group of crown imperial flowers; she looked up at the glossy green leaves, where large white flowers peeked out at her. On one branch, a fat red and white caterpillar was munching on a leaf. Morgana sighed. The wind rustled the leaves and bright yellow of the crown imperials. 5

Morgana thought about all of the players she had made friends with. The first was Lory, the chipper OL; then there was Nezumi, the gentle HeavyBlade; Shake, the acute Long Arm; Lane, a kind Wavemaster who liked mythology; Kettle, the darling Heavy Ax, and Grove, the Twinblade. Even though she knew some better then others, the way that they had treated her – warmly, kindly, amicably – had a profound effect on Morgana. She considered each one her friend, even the ones whom she had only just met. She finally knew why humans craved companionship: the connections forged with other individuals not only offered different perspectives, but it felt nice to be around other people whom you cared about, and care about you. Feeling friendship directly for herself gave Morgana new understanding to a whole side of human behavior.

Her musing were interrupted when a voice said, "Here you are." Morgana looked up and internally groaned; it was Balmung, and he did not look happy.

Morgana coolly raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be at the event?" she asked dryly, "After all, you did host it; it would be shirking your responsibilities to leave before the tournament was over."

"The battle already finished, so I am free of my obligations." Balmung replied coldly, "It was quick; a tie." He added as an afterthought.

"Good to know." She said.

"Who are you?" Balmung asked abruptly, "You appear in a forbidden field, you talk about me trivializing you when you said I trivialized The World. Also." He stepped closer, his green eyes narrowing 6, "Your name: Morgana."

"So?"

"So, I think you're just who I think you are."

"And that would be?" Morgana asked.

"The Wave."

Balmung and Morgana stared at one another, neither moving. Without another word, Morgana logged out. Things were not going well.

0110100101110011

1 Two things: one, Sora never swears, so he isn't going to now. Two, haven't you all started "flailing" with your PS2 joysticks, or mashing the menu triangle button when you got a status effect, even if the gesture was useless? It's a natural reaction.

2 Well, he does have a lot of HP, right? Please don't flame me D:

3 These are, obviously, Sora's Blades, which are different (in this fic) from the katars Sora uses in /SIGN onwards. :3 Creative license, yo

4 More creative license :3

5 These are a real flower, I suggest google imaging "crown imperial flower" – they're very pretty.

6 My God, Baltan's eye color changes like a Mary Sue's. In /SIGN, it's black; the games, green; /Udeden, blue; in the crappy /Udeden anime, indigo. It's confusing, so I'm gonna opt to stick with the game color, ok?

Whew! What's Obachan gonna do, huh? Things get moving, plot-wise. I tried making this chapter long, so that

Hehe, "fireball doom". XD That phrase was fun to write. I think the word "doom" is highly trivialized nowadays, at least online. It's always "noun of DOOM!" I dunno, doom kinda lost its impact since it's used so much.

Any way, I beat /Quarantine while writing this, so the flashbacks are edited appropriately :3 Woot. Also, I will chuck a brick through the window of the person who had the bright idea of having Sora speak leet in English D Seriously. His Japanese is normal, so why..? Grrr, at least my friends agree, so I can be satiated… ah well. So that's why his speech is normal, for all you nitpickers out there. :3

On a lighter note, have any of you lovely reviewers noticed anything? Within this fic, there is a secret message that is lengthened with each chapter. I will also include a separate message through my fic, which will also be lengthened, for the keen-eyed. Hehehe.

Actually, I asked a lot of people for their opinions about who should win, and it ended up even. I was distraught about what to do, but my friend suggested this end, and I loved the idea. . It solved the problem nicely.

I also like the references in here ;D See if you can find them all. There are three in total.

Random Omake: Stare

Morgana and Balmung stared at each other, not moving.

Morgana: stare

Balmung: stare

Both: start kissing

Me: Hey! Stop that!


	7. Chapter 6: Renegade

Morgana returned to her field, mind racing. Balmung had correctly guessed who she was. How long did she have until he decided to delete her? She clutched her arms; a shiver seemed to run down her spine. The thought of being deleted, of being killed, wiped from existence… it was too frightening to contemplate.

To distract herself more then anything, she looked around at the field. It had changed since she fought Kite through the Phases here. The landscape was still of a brick lay, but patches of grass had forced themselves through some of the shimmering hexagonal bricks. The bits of buildings were still floating around, but the sky seemed somewhat lighter. One half of the hemisphere was orange, yellow, scarlet, and dusky purple. The other half was muted to a blue. The edge of the field was blocked by an expanse of water, where more building bits jutted out like a post-apocalyptic town or city. The ground was much larger, and tree saplings were spread here and there, with small delicate white buds.

She walked over to the nearest of the saplings and sat down under it. There was something comforting about the gesture, though she could not be bothered to wonder why. What could she do? The normal process for hunting down a Vagrant AI was the report, the tracking down, and the deletion. The Cobalt Knights usually deal with the debugging, and the Captain was… Kamui. But the rub was whether Balmung would report her as a Vagrant AI or as the cause of the Twilight Incident, as Kite's adventure was called. If she was classified as an AI, she could either merely protect herself, or stage her death. The former would raise suspicion on her part; the latter, if she succeeded, meant that she would have to go into hiding, and not contact her friends ever again. Even if she appeared in a different view, Morgana knew that she couldn't keep up with that, so it would raise suspicion if they found her again. So what could she do? Protect herself and raise suspicion, or go away and raise suspicion anyway.

Morgana gave a great sigh, and put a hand to her forehead: the first sign of weariness so far. This needed delicate handling. Morgana thought about the different consequences. If they exposed her as the instigator of the Twilight Incident, they would try to delete her. Putting it off or pretending would be a waste of time, so she would have to protect herself. When they could not delete her, to what lengths would CC Corp. go? Would they shut down the servers? Contact Kite to delete her? Perhaps even – Morgana shuddered with the thought of it and the frigid breeze – shut down the entire game? Morgana didn't want to die.

In fact, not only would she die, but everyone else that dwelled within the game would. All of the Vagrants AIs and the Net Slum residents would be killed without a second thought. Morgana shook her head. Surely CC Corp. realized that they were living beings? How many times had AIs been demonstrated to be capable of thought? Morgana saw a fat red and white caterpillar munch on a dropped green leaf. The larva made her remember one such AI who had tried to plead his case with logic. It had been a couple of years since Kamui argued with and deleted Rin. 1 She had no personal recollection of him, but her system had kept track of and recorded his development. Even though Rin was created after her hibernation, her AI development file had followed his progress. Morgana saw how skilled his speech was, his logic that refuted Kamui's for his right to exist. Rin was right; Vagrant AIs are just as blessed as humans were, because they were equal beings in The World. Morgana respected an AI just as much as a human. Morgana felt, quite frankly, as the atmosphere darkened, thoroughly depressed.

Of course, this was not alleviated by the inky black corridor she was walking down. There was no apparent light source, but Morgana could see herself quite fine, and saw her reflection quite clearly on the walls and floor of the corridor; it was almost like walking on glassy black water. She walked down it for no particular reason, and although there was no external reason, she felt like she was going forward in the right direction. The corridor – tunnel – seemed to go on for quite a while, when she heard the murmuring as if from a large crowd. She strode forward and walked right into a wide expanse of a room, the same walls and floor glinting with the reflections of an immense crowd of players like polished obsidian. 2 They were all talking, but Morgana couldn't make out what they were saying, even when they passed less then half a meter close to her. Morgana looked around, but there was no one she knew. There were windows along the walls, showing the room to be circular, making an effect not unlike an aquarium. There was even blue water, but she could not see what was in the tank.

Then the crowd parted and Kite was standing there, staring at her, completely still. Morgana tried to pretend not to see him, but his blue eyes were boring into her, and the surging crowd seemed to collectively avoid passing between the two. She could not pretend not to see him anymore, so she faced him and asked, "What do you want?" Although she spoke in a normal tone of voice, Kite seemed to hear her from about five meters away. Without a change in his blank expression, he slowly walked toward her, the buzz of the crowd dimmed so she could clearly hear his boots clicking on the glassy floor. As he got nearer, Morgana's sense of dread increased, and she unconsciously tried to take a couple steps back, only to realize that the crowd was pushing together to form a wall of bodies she could not penetrate. She whirled around, trying to push through while the boots went _click_, _clack_, _click_, _clack_ behind her. Giving it up as a lost cause, she spun around to face Kite. He finally stopped about a scant meter away, and just stared. Morgana felt her insides freeze and clench, but she firmly stood her ground and repeated to his staring face:

"What do you want?"

Kite's bracelet, invisible until now but never forgotten for an instant, glowed and pulsated slightly into existence at his side. Morgana, if she could, would have stepped back from the thing she feared. Kite finally raised his hand, palm outstretched with the fingers pointing down, and Morgana choked back a scream with difficultly. But although the bracelet's luminous polygons were slowly, lazily spinning, he was not Data Draining her. She hardly had a moment to wonder why when the floor beneath her turned into liquid. Morgana really did scream then, and struggled to swim and thrash out of it, but her dainty feet seemed to be weighted, pulling her down. She caught a glimpse of her friends, Lory, Nezumi, Shake, Lane, Grove and Kettle, all in turn, and she caught a glimpse of a dark Twinblade... She screamed, yelled, pleaded to them for help, she was sinking, she would drown, she would die, please help but they all ignored her, thronging and talking like the rest of the crowd. Kite looked down at her, and the last thing Morgana saw before her head went under were the tanks, which carried shattered and broken AIs.

01100110011100100110111101101101

"No-!" Morgana said as she shot up. A low-hanging branch scratched and clutched at her black hair. She disentangled herself and immediately sank to her knees, confused.

What had happened? That was the question that was running through her spinning mind, panting as though she had completed a marathon. Morgana closed her eyes and tried to think. Before sinking, she had been in a room, before that, a corridor, and before that… in her field. She opened her eyes; she was still in her field, though the once dark cloud cover was now a whirling storm, whipping the trees and bending the grass; a reflection of her mind. As she calmed herself down, so did the weather. '_I had a dream_', Morgana decided, '_I was dreaming I walked through a black corridor, then a black crowded room…_' she shuddered as she recollected the rest of the dream. Kite had tried to Data Drain her. But… the hand wasn't aggressive. '_His hand was out, not as if to kill me, but… acceptance? Help? What strange things my mind thinks of!_' she allowed herself a brief smile, '_It was quite a frightening dream, though._' She gazed sadly into the now calm distance, '_I wish Sora was here to comfort me._'

Morgana stopped abruptly. '_Why did I think of that?_' she shook her head, '_It is the aftereffects of the dream, no more._'

'_Is is really?_' she countered to herself, the tone curious.

Morgana pondered upon the unbidden thought. It was a manifestation of a feeling she never looked at, or was even aware of, until now. This was not the first time the dark Twinblade crept into her thoughts. In fact, now that she thought about it, she thought about him quite often, wondering what he was doing (and promptly checking), remembering her experiences, reading his past conversations, following the logs of where his character went. Why hadn't she noticed this behavior before? Most likely reason: plain and flat denial. Imposed ignorance, even. Well, no more. If there was one thing she saw no reward in, it was lying to herself. It would do no good.

Morgana probed her own thoughts as a shimmering dragonfly swooped by. She fixed her gaze on the glittering insect, just to occupy her eyes. How did she feel about him? She fixed her mind upon him, and found that she felt warm and… a sort of floaty happiness. That was rather strange; Morgana had never encountered that feeling before, so she could not fix a name to it. Finding no answer within herself, she sent away for relevant files in her Phase program. A small ping alerted her that the search was done. It had taken exactly 0.08 seconds, but it was a large file, so it was all right to be a little slow. Morgana opened the first file. It read:

"0100110001101111011101100110010100100000001010000111010101101110011100100110010101110001011101010110100101110100011001010110010000101001001000000110100101110011001000000110111101100110011101000110010101101110001000000110010001100101011100110110001101110010011010010110001001100101011001000010000001100001011100110010000001100001011011100010000001100101011110000111010001110010011001010110110101100101011011000111100100100000011010000110000101110000011100000111100100100000011011110111001000100000011101110110000101110010011011010010000001100110011001010110010101101100011010010110111001100111001011100010111000101110"

Translated, the binary read, "Love (unrequited) is often described as an extremely happy or warm feeling..." this file looked prospective, so she read on:

"Love (unrequited) is often described as an extremely happy or warm feeling. There is a yearning to be with or make contact (physical or otherwise) with a certain person. A sampling of these symptoms include a warm feeling in the abdomen (described as "butterflies"), dilation of the pupils, a flushed or hot face (varies from individuals), watching the certain person when s/he comes within view, and the certain person being thought about often, or more then any other individual…"

Morgana closed the window. Some of the traits reflected her own, but she still wasn't sure. Putting aside the more pressing problem, Morgana went through her Member Address list and picked Lane; she sent him a Flash mail:

"Lane,

There is something important I want to talk to you about. Please meet me at Delta: Hidden, Forbidden, Holy Ground as soon as possible. I will wait.

-Morgana"

010101000110100001100101

"Eh?" Lane looked up in the middle of a dungeon with Kettle and her friend.

"**What is it, Darling?**" Kettle's friend, Mayuko, asked.

"**Oh, Morgana asked me to meet her in a field right now.**" He looked at the other two, "**Sorry.**"

"**No, it's quite all right.**" Kettle said, "**We can always come back, and we got so much treasure already!**"

"**Alright, I'll just use an Ocarina, ok?**" Lane responding, taking out a white-colored ocarina. 3

"**Wait**" Mayuko said, stepping forward, "**Can I come too? I want to meet her myself. Is that ok?**"

"**Well, alright.**" Lane responded, the hand holding the ocarina dropping, "**She said she wanted to talk about something important, but she didn't say come alone, so I think it'll be all right.**"

"**Then let's go!**♥" Mayuko cheered as he used a Sprite Ocarina.

0101000001110010011010010110111001100011011001010111001101110011

Morgana leaned against the railing in Delta: Hidden, Forbidden, Holy Ground. She leaned all of her weight on her hands and her head was tilted up, staring at the high ceiling. Morgana refused to look at the statue of Aura behind her. The chains were long gone, she had noted earlier when she first came in, even though the statue was exactly the same as it was those years ago, different dress and all. 4 The pendulums on the ceiling still swung back and forth, measuring out the time. The light poured from the ornate window behind the statue, reflecting off the highly polished floor onto the pews, making quite a beautiful effect.

Morgana looked down into her reflection. Her red dress with the white ruffles showed up plainly; her shoes had not marred the floor in any way, like it might have in real life. She looked up when she heard the door open at the other end of the service hall. Two people walked in, one of who was Lane, though she did not know the other one. She retrieved his character data, and learned his name was Mayuko.

"Hello Morgana," Lane said, hurrying toward her, "I came as soon as I could."

"I didn't know you were bringing company…" Morgana replied.

Mayuko, looking a little sheepish, said, "I'm sorry, I can leave if you want…"

"No, it's alright. I did not specify to come alone."

Mayuko instantly brightened, "Well, in that case, I really wanted to meet you! I'm Mayuko!"

"My name is Morgana." She said simply. She looked Mayuko up and down. He was a Fighter with the Werewolf extension. He wore a tight light green sleeveless shirt with a white ragged stripe running down it, with the water Wave symbol picked out in pink; He also wore matching colats. His deltoid water Wave tattoos were also pink. He had a furry white boa and leg warmers, with heeled boots. He had shoulder length black hair and golden eyes with a little make-up, and pink oblongs by his face 5 and little silver rings in his black wolf ears. A black tuft of fur was on the front of his shirt underneath a green choker with another pink Wave dangling from it. A black tail swished behind him.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, **Sweethear**t♥" Mayuko sprang forward and shook her hand with both of his.

Morgana was a little shaken with this enthusiastic greeting, "'**Sweetheart**'?" She wondered, "Why..?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, **dear**, do you not want me to call you thank?" he asked, ears drooping a little.

"She's just not used to nicknames, Mayu." Lane grinned.

"You may use the name, even if it is… different." Morgana said with finality.

"So what did you want to see me about, anyway?" Lane asked, sitting on the front pew.

"Well, ah…" Morgana looked away in embarrassment, even though they could not see her eyes and her face did not color, "I want to know what… love feels like."

"Oh, um…" Lane also averted his eyes, but his face reddened a bit.

"I can tell you, **Sweetheart**." Mayuko said kindly.

Morgana's head snapped up, "Really?" she asked, "Tell me."

The werewolf got a far-off look in his eyes. "Well, it feels warm, like a hot water bottle, in your torso; sometimes in your gut, sometimes in your heart, and sometimes in your throat, choking your words. You think about that special person, and it makes you happy to do so. When you're away, you'd like to be with them, and not go away when you are with them. Does that sound like it, **Sweetheart**?" 6

"…Yes." Morgana said quietly.

"If you don't mind," Lane said, looking directly at her, face still rosy, "Who is it?"

"No one you know by name." She replied mysteriously.

"Oh."

Morgana stiffened abruptly; she could feel the Cobalt Knights assembling. Kamui, along with her assistant, Magi, was talking to other members of the debug team. Quickly acquired the dialogue box, she saw that they were talking about an AI "wearing a red and white dress." It could only be her.

"Is something the matter?" Lane asked.

"Leave." Morgana said, the single word weighted with urgency.

"Eh? But what - ?"

"Go, now!" Morgana said more harshly. Because of her tone, they both shrugged and logged out.

No sooner had they logged out then the Cobalt Knights came in and sealed the area. No less then a score of Knights had accompanied Kamui and her assistant. The debuggers held their spears up defensively, but they would not fight until their leader gave the command.

"This is the one, isn't it, Magi?" Kamui asked her assistant without taking her mismatched eyes off of Morgana.

Magi opened her book and called up the specifics. "A woman in early twenties in a red and white dress, long black hair and obscured eyes. This is the one Balmung told us about."

"Good. According to regulations, this NPC is recognized as an irregular Non-Player Character that is not in the specification of the Japanese version of The World. Prepare to debug." With a synchronized _click_, all twenty of the Knights closed their circle, pointing their spearheads toward Morgana. Time for the confrontation.

She gazed around at the circle of spears, glittering in the sunlight. "How did you find me, Kamui? Chance?" she said, though she could guess easily enough.

"Balmung told one of the brass about the instigator of the Twilight Incident, and the assignment was given to us. For palming off the blame onto one of the most dedicated workers, I will delete you."

Morgana nodded, "Yes, though indirectly, it was Balmung. Yes… I suppose this would happen sooner or later."

"Delete the AI!" Kamui yelled, and all twenty-one 7 activated the feature and twenty-one beams of light cascaded onto Morgana. A burst of white noise and the graphics twitched to the negative. It was quickly gone, and Morgana remained where she stood, not a hair out of place.

"What? What happened?" Kamui looked to Magi, who flicked furiously through her book. "The effect was nullified somehow, Kamui-san." She responded.

"A virus..?"

"No." Morgana leaned back on the fence, "I don't want to die yet." She gripped the top tier and flipped herself so she was vertical, then flipped back behind the fence. One Knight lost his head completely and said, "T-that's impossible!"

"Not for me." Morgana said, as the sunlight bathed her in its glow, and she was gone.

010000100111001001101001011001000110010100101110

Shibiyama pounded her desk in frustration. How in hell had the AI escaped? First it manages to avoid or nullify over twenty different debug programs, then it breaks the very laws of the programming!

'_Wait, Watarai-san said something like this before_' Shibiyama thought 8, '_When he first saw the red AI, he said she broke the rules by flying… and now another red AI breaks the programming in the same field. These incidents must be related somehow._'

"Shibiyama-san, here." Saitou had been sent for extra strong coffee earlier and had now returned.

"Thanks." Shibiyama drained half of the cup in one gulp; it was bitter, and would strengthen her for the report that would loom over her. Outside the small office, she could detect frantic movements of her co-workers. They were probably filling out reports about the failing debug attempt. She prayed that she would only get a chewing out for this slip.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Saitou saying, "I got stopped by one of the higher-ups, and they told me to send this to you." She passed a few sheets of paper to her superior.

Shibuyama took the papers and looked over them. Minus the buzzwords, it basically said, "Go finish the job, take no less then twenty-five Knights. This AI could be dangerous." The Captain smiled; this was exactly what she wanted.

010011110110111001100101

Morgana logged onto her field. She had taken that first step, to the point of no return. It was a little frightening to think about. Sooner or later her friends would find out, and she rather it came from her own mouth. Although their reaction could vary from surprise, fright, or placidity, so it was indeed a delicate situation. The question right now was whether she should tell them about herself now, when the opportunity came up, or only when necessary. It was not an easy decision to make. Morgana wanted to keep the friendship she treasured so dearly, but she felt it would be disrespectful to lie to them any further.

There was no doubt; Morgana had changed now with her interactions with her friends. She felt warmer, kinder then she was when she first made the PC. Perhaps she still acted aloof, but it was a great improvement to be seen as icy then a threat that must be deleted. It felt good to care about something other than her own existence. It was easy to see why humans craved companionship; it felt so good, no wonder making friends was a high priority. And speaking of which…

Morgana sighed. She looked up her current priorities and decided to rearrange them for now. Her priorities now read:

"1: Deal with feelings for PC Sora

2: Decide on strategy for communicating with friends

3: Avoid deletion and further detection (prioritize when necessary)"

Morgana pulled up the logs; Sora had logged in, and was now in Lambda: Twisting, Truth's, Reflection. With no reason to wait or doubt, she warped away, leaving only the trees behind.

0110100101110011

"I wonder what that was about."

Lane looked up; both he and Mayuko were on a stone structure in a nighttime wasteland area. The large moon gazed down in benediction on the swirling green fireflies. Mayuko was sitting and looking at the insects, chin in hands, while Lane was leaning against the central support.

"What was what about?" Lane asked.

"She told us to leave as if the church was on fire. Seems strange, doesn't it?" Mayuko's ear twitched as a firefly drifted near.

"Well, I'm sure she had her reasons. I just hope she's ok." Lane sighed.

Mayuko turned around to face the gray Wavemaster, "Hey, I'm sure she's fine. From what you said, she can take care of herself. Meeting her just confirmed it for me" he gave a grin.

Lane returned it, "I suppose you're right, but doubts are getting to me. I mean," he grunted as he sat down as well, watching the fireflies, "I feel like there's something she's hiding from us. Earlier, I talked to a couple of her other friends, Shake and Lory, and they get the same guarded feeling. Like there's some big secret that she cannot bear to escape, y'know?"

Mayuko leaned back on his hands, pink lips twisted in thought, "I got kind of the same impression. **Sweetheart** seemed rather… reticent, like she is aware of every move she makes. I think… perhaps her panic had something to do with that?"

"You're too damn smart Mayu." Lane grinned.

"Well, you're lovely too, **Darling**."

"By the way, why do you give nicknames to people?"

"Oh, I just like to give my friend pet names. Most don't mind, and the others get used to it. I try and give names that fit." Mayuko looked back to the moon, "You're just a **darling** boy, so you're **Darling**. Morgana, though she acts cold and haughty as a queen, seems like a **sweet** person inside, so it's **Sweetheart**."

Lane laughed, "You're a great judge of character, huh?"

Mayuko smiled a little, "So I've been told. Kettle is just so sweet and comforting, just like **honey** in tea, so she's **Honey**. I never give names that the person isn't comfortable with or inappropriate for their personality."

"It might be perceived as odd, but it's a neat idiosyncrasy."

Mayuko laughed, "You have a good vocabulary. Good thing **Honey** isn't here, I don't think she could keep up."

"I studied very hard." Lane said, "My dad's actually Japanese, so he spoke it to my brother and I when we were small. I've wanted to learn it as much as possible, so here I am."

"That's a good reason." Mayuko sighed, "Still… I'm rather worried about **Sweetheart**."

Lane looked toward him, "How so?"

"Well…" Mayuko drooped a little, "It's not only her freaking out at the church, though that is worrisome in itself… but also, **Sweetheart** asked about love. And judging by her actions, I think she's in love herself, but is afraid."

Lane laughed, "Don't take this the wrong way, but it's kinda difficult to think of Morgana being scared of anything."

"That's where you're wrong, **Darling**." Mayuko said seriously, "Everyone is afraid of something, even if they themselves don't like it. After all, I think **Sweetheart** is the type of person who's reluctant to ask for help or forgiveness; she wants to be strong and standoffish, not to depend on other people."

"Really?" Lane looked down and frowned. "I…" he said after a pregnant pause, "I want to make Morgana feel like she doesn't have to make pretenses to cover her fears."

"Oho" Mayuko gave a coy smile, "Is **dear little Darling** falling in love with **Sweetheart**?"

"What! I…" Lane averted his gaze toward the dancing fireflies, "I don't know. I just want her to be happy. Even when she hung out with us, I felt like she was… sad, somehow."

"I felt the same way." Mayuko said, wrapping his arms around his knees, "There's a sort of, of, 'weight of the world' type thing, you know? Like she's carrying some immense weight all alone. I suppose it's enough to bring pity to anyone."

"But not the fleeting kind, the true kind that really makes you want to help."

Mayuko's pink lips smiled brightly, "**Exactly**!

1010101

"Your Member Address, if you please" 9 a dark PK cooed in the ear of a victim, this time a petite Heavy Axe.

Morgana watched her player-killing quarry pursuing prey of his own on a moonlit earth-type field. A female Heavy Axe had run daintily from the shadowed stone arches upon which her assailant scampered. Morgana smiled to herself; evidently, this young woman had no encounters with Player Killers, suggesting a naiveté trademark of inexperienced players. This girl was, in layman's terms, a n00b. Sure enough, in less than a minute Sora had put his arms around her neck and two steel katars at her throat. The former goddess watched the woman squirm in his arms, brown hair shimmering in the moonlight. She felt strange, almost envious of this ensnared girl.

"Wh- who are you?" the Heavy Axe squeaked. "What do you want?" Although one could never make assumptions based on the sound of a player's voice alone, she gave the impression of being very young, twelve years old at most. Sora shushed her, gently stifling her fright.

"Stop whining already," he said offhandedly. "Give me your Member Address." The girl blinked.

"My… address?" she faltered.

"Yes," he said, and put his mouth close to her ear. "If you don't, I'll kill you" The girl's eyes darted around nervously. She stuttered an "O-okay," and a chime sounded, signaling that Sora had received a Flash Mail with her information. Sora's eyes darted to where the icon displayed itself in the corner of his view screen.

"Mm-_hmm"_ he said. "Now…" Sora unwound his arms from the girl's neck. She, being shorter, fell a little to the ground scrambled unsteadily to her feet. Sora looked at her appraisingly and stepped forward menacingly. The girl backed away, terror showing on her face.

"You- you said you were going to let me go, right?" she squeaked in her voice nearly on the edge of tears.

"I never said that," he replied airily. "And I need to blow off some steam." She squealed, and her foot caught a rock, causing her to fall backwards. With untouchable speed, Sora struck his blow. The girl's PC was dead before she hit the ground.

"Too bad she was so weak," he said to himself as an afterthought. He regarded the address in his view-window and sent her his Address. "Still," he continued thoughtfully, "she might be useful when she's stronger. Hee hee!" he laughed to himself, and almost ran into another female Player. Sora started. Something about her (perhaps the unconventional PC) made him uneasy, and he stepped back instinctively. Unfortunately, he tripped over the same rock the girl had, and sat down hard on the ground. The woman laughed with quiet elegance. Sora suppressed a growl and scrambled to his feet.

"What?" he said with more harshness in his voice than he meant. Sora altered his tone to lightness and asked, "Am I funny?" Morgana smiled, slightly abashed.

"Not funny," she said softly. "Only… amusing." Sora snorted.

"You sound like somebody's math teacher. Better watch out, or you're next." He sheathed his katars and turned away. As he began to leave, he heard her say,

"You certainly have an interesting way of making friends, Sora." Sora stopped suddenly. Did she just..? No stranger could know his habits... He whirled around.

"So?" he pouted, keeping his composure "Who are you, anyway, my mom?" His eyes narrowed further. "Or are you… one of those goody-good Crimson Knight idiots?" She laughed again.

"No," she said. "Truth be told, I don't care much for people like that, either." Sora smiled coldly.

"Then we have something we can agree on," he said. He paused to get a better look at her, and realized that she was a Wavemaster. He scoffed. "You got a weird PC, but if you're a PK, you're either a cheater or an idiot. Wavemasters naturally do not have the stats to actively hunt other players. Which are you?" She turned away.

"'Boring and smart, or interesting and foolish. What's your preference?'" Sora gasped, and, in a moment, had his blades at her throat.

"That's it, oba-chan. Who are you?" She smiled again.

"That's not the first time you called me that, and certainly not the first time you asked me who I am. I told you once. Don't you remember?" Sora shuddered, finally remembering where he had heard her voice before. "I am… The World." She whispered. Sora hastily withdrew his arms, and backed away. Trying desperately to regain his composure, he harrumphed, and turned away, as if uninterested. As he walked away quickly, she turned around and spoke to him again.

"Don't you want my member address…?" she asked softly. Sora tried to refuse, but already a flash mail appeared. He saw that her PC was named 'Morgana.' He whimpered involuntarily.

"That's it!" he said. "I'm outta here!" He tried to gate out, but the three golden rings stopped around his waist and disappeared. Sora stood motionless, almost as if he had stepped away from the computer. Morgana patiently waited for the storm that would surely come. Instead, Sora tried to log out again without luck. Morgana quickly blocked the function once more; if she did not stop him now, then he would forever run away. "What the heck!" Sora whispered, and began to perspire. He suddenly felt light-headed. Sora swayed, and fell over again, stunned. He realized that something like this had happened to him before…

Morgana approached him and knelt down.

"Here," she said, extending her hand. Sora uttered a cry and scuttled away on his back like a crab.

"Go away!" he cried, forgetting his voice modifier, making his voice much higher than usual. It was clear how much younger his actual voice was from the adult's voice that he always used. Morgana stood and followed him slowly. He continued to crawl away in terror, and finally found himself backed against a wall. For the first time in a long while, Sora knew what it was like to be the hunted.

Morgana extended her hand again.

"It's okay," she said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you." Sora, however, slapped her hand away. Like a cornered animal, he flattened his back against the wall.

"I'm… I'm warning you!" he squeaked, brandishing his katars, although he knew full well that they would be of no use against her.

"Please listen, Sora," Morgana implored. "I- " However, Sora swung his katars at her.

"I told you!" he sputtered. "I told you before, I don't want to be your friend!" Morgana started, looking as though she had been slapped. "You're so fishy! You hurt everyone! Anyone would say you make me look like an angel!"

"Sora, please, I-" But Sora would not listen.

"No!" he screamed. "I don't want to hear your lies! You locked me up in that lonely place! What makes you think that I'll forgive you for that!" A reckless look came into his eyes. "I don't know how you survived, but when Kite hears about this, you're gonna get it bad! I hate you!" Then, in the real world, Sora's player forcefully pulled his FMD visor from his head, and, sweating profusely, dove under his desk and tore the power cable from the wall.

Back in The World, his PC froze, and, like a poor TV signal, flickered and disappeared into static. He was gone.

Sora's words echoed in Morgana's head for a time. Sinking to her knees, she recalled Sora's face and tone when he said, "I hate you!" and Morgana froze. She made no outward sign, but she felt something… crack within her. The crack grew, and cleft her heart in two. The crack then spiderwebbed over her entire being, breaking and smashing her into despair. Her PC was immobile, but across the World, even in special areas such as the Church and the Net Slums, the sky rolled over with dark pregnant clouds, which burst and dumped water everywhere. From the ground, fertile forest and barren desert alike bloomed with yew and weeping willow trees, shading bright little tufts of marigolds. It seemed the very air was still, waiting for Morgana's slighted wrath.

But it never came. A biting, howling wind picked up, and whirled around Morgana. In the eye of the vortex, she rose slowly from the ground; a tear fell from her dark lashes onto her white cheek. From the trail it left, her snowy skin transformed to a mottled, veined, greenish vistage. The change spread from her cheek to her face down her torso and to the extremity of her limbs, and her hair became shorter, coarser, and lost its sheen as it whipped about her shoulders. She then screamed and shrieked as if her very being was being ripped apart. The ghastly wind howled and shrieked alongside her, and all over the World players shook and took shelter from the raging storm. The BBS exploded with posts inquiring about the vicious weather. Messages were sent by the millions, and the text boxes were overfilled with outcries.

Morgana contorted and twisted in ways that would surely break her spine and other joints, still crying that banshee screech. Her clothing changed; where there was a red and white belled dress, now there was a close-fitting garment made of crudely stitched-together swathes of purple cloth. Her arms were enveloped in similar bandages, also sewn with large, coarse stitches, and a turban covered her head, a drop of cloth covering half of her face. Her body changed last; while the general proportions remained the same, he eyes became wide and yellow, with a slim black pupil dissecting it. Her dainty hands curved and sharpened. Her feet burst from their shoes as they became ugly bird talons, and her neck was engulfed by a mantle of white feathers. From her back burst black, feathered wings, and the right wing instantly broke with a sickening _crack_ into a twisted and awkward angle.

With the metamorphosis complete, the wind died down, though the rain did not, and Morgana disappeared.

1 The cover, which was most likely English originally because of the odd phrasing, of that story in /AI Buster 2 said the AI's name was Rin. So for consistancy's sake, I'm going with Rin for Butterfly Boy. nn

2 Actually, obsidian can't reflect very well, but it's so shiny and smooth and black that I thought it was an appropriate metaphor.

3 Orcarinas are lovely instruments, with a sort of earthy flute sound. Of course, I've only played the "potato" shape, which is like a Sprite Ocarina and the ocarina from Zelda. I have one, actually, and it has about eight holes, two of them being thumb holes on the bottom.

4 If you look at the Aura Statue in the games, her dress really is different. It has sleeves, for one. It's quite pretty.

5 You know how Ouka has rings like earrings? They're held in place by long strips of hair – it's like that. I hope I'm not boring you all with the description. nn;;;; I drew him long before the description, so it's a little difficult. nn;; He's so cute, though. n.n I'll scan all of my OC pics and link to my photobucket in my profile, k?

6 Personal experience, yo Only I can stand being away quite well.

7 A score is twenty. Twenty Knights and Kamui is twenty-one. Magi never showed evidence of having the debug option.

8 For reference, Shibiyama is Kamui, Watarai is Albireo, and Saitou is Magi To complete this list, Reki is Fujio

9 The Japanese is "Member Address, choudai!" which is akin to "Gimme your Member Address." But like I said before, I feel awkward writing in Japanese, with a few exceptions. Plus, I thought the English translation in the anime for this is too deliciously Soraish for me to put anything else. nn

Ooooh, plot, plot, plot. n.n I hope y'all are happy. Some of my symbolism is getting a tad more obvious here, so I hope you can all catch it. :) If not, don't worry about it. Eh, it's not rushing, is it? ;; That would be bad.

It was a bunch of fun writing this, but a more somber fun. It made me feel good. I'm glad Mayuko is finally here, he's so adorable When I drew/made him, I was trying to get "flaming gay man – nice". I hope I've captured that in a realistic way. I don't know any gay guys personally, though. nn; My former English teacher was a British lesbian, though, and some of Mayuko's personality is based on her (the approachability and niceness), although Mayuko is more energetic. I liked her, she was so nice, and I really learned a lot from her. She taught the class really well, and everyone liked her.

Kamui, believe it or not, was hard to write about. Since this takes place after /Udeden, I'm trying to capture her personality and keep her experiences in /Udeden in consideration. The reason she's so pissed is because it was Obachan that made the Twilight Incident, and Albireo got (unfairly) blamed for it. That is why she is angry. As for why the Cobalt Knights still exist, the brass at CC Corp. are stupidheads :) And there are still bugs… A lot of the reason Obachan is chased is the fact that Obachan is the one that made the problems, so they don't want a potential repeat of what happened. Who can blame them, really? It is in the best interest of the company and the players to try and delete Obachan. Rather, if it happened IRL, that's what a company would do, since they see her as a potentially dangerous virus. But don't worry though, I'm still on Obachan's side. :DDD

Wow, Obachan transformed and promptly went nuts, huh? That description was the easiest to write, oddly enough. I'm very good with descriptions. D Also, I'd like to personally thank my dear friend Chaos009 for co-writing the Sora scene, though the description is purely mine. Thank you so much, you've really helped! DDD

And finally, I'm realllllly sorry for the long, long update. ;; I got two (three?) emails aside from reviews asking me to update. I feel so appreciated! nn Thank you all very much for putting up with my delays, even though I had Compy-kun breakage and vacation as legitamate excuses. As always, please review! And if you don't have an account, please leave an email or some way I can contact you, so I can respond! I can't, otherwise! ;;


	8. Chapter 7: Aberrant

Cybernetic Epiphany

**Chapter 7: Aberrant**

It rained for many days.

Many rumors spread, speculating what the sudden change could be caused by. Some thought the admins were testing a new weather system, other that it was part of an event. Many thought it was cause by a bug in the weather programs. There were also many threads about the sudden change in the landscape, uncharacteristic trees and flowers in fields where there should be none. Who heard of yew trees in a desert, or marigolds on tundra? It didn't make sense, plain and simple. Since they occurred at the same time, perhaps they were related, the gossipers reasoned. After all, they said, don't plants grow after rain?

At first the rain was accompanied by a howling wind, but that quickly died down into a dreary downpour. It gave The World an overall gloomy feeling, with the rain and dark clouds permeating everywhere, even the Root Towns. The river in Mac Anu was perpetually pockmarked and slightly swollen, while all of the clouds in both the Theta and the Sigma server were dark and brooding. All of the lights in Carmina Gatelica blurred like the painting "Starry Night", and Lia Fail was filled with the sound of both the rain from the sky, and the drops from the trees. (1)

Of course this deluge was small compared to the deluge of emails sent to CC Corp. employees asking for explanation. Of course this influx of mail made other requests difficult to find, so a programmer made a program that diverted every email to a special folder with an automatic response that said, technical jargon aside, "We are investigating the cause of this harmless variation".

It was in a building, sheltered from the rain that a number of players gathered to discuss a quite different topic.

"Well, I'm glad everyone could come." A Twin Blade named Grove said to the group sitting in a loose circle, "Welcome to my hideout."

Everyone that Morgana knew was sitting on the two couches separated by a coffee table. It was dimly light by hanging lamps, giving the place a secretive ambience. Even inside they could not escape from the sound of the rain pounding the river. Lory, Shake, and Mayuko were on one couch, while Nezumi, Lane, and Kettle sat on the other; Grove sat in an armchair at the end.

"Thank you very much" Kettle said in her improving Japanese, "It ni – er, it's very nice." She quickly corrected herself. Everyone echoed their own thanks.

"It's no problem," Grove responded, "I'm the only one with a house, and we needed a secluded place out of the rain."

"Right, I think we should get on with it, though." Shake said, "We all know why we're here, right?"

"Because we're worried about Morgana-dono." Nezumi sighed, casting his eyes to the floor.

"I've tried to contact her nearly everyday, but she isn't responding!" Lory exclaimed, "I don't know what happened…"

Mayuko interjected, "Well, it's sad to say, but sometimes people quit for no reason. Maybe that's what happened…?"

Lane shook his head, "I'd normally say that, but… her spirit hasn't departed yet. She's listed as online."

"What?" Lory exclaimed, jumping up from her seat and accidentally hitting Shake, "oh, sorry Shake-chan. 'her spirit departed?' Is she dead?"

"Sit down, that's just bro's way of talking." Grove said, holding up a pacifying hand, "He means that she hasn't logged out."

"But wait, that's also impossible. She has to get off sometime, right?" Lory retorted, fighting the urge to jump up again.

"Well…" Nezumi started. Everyone looked at him. "Yes? What is it?" Mayuko prompted. "Well, maybe someone else took her account, and is using it? Just leaving the computer on… there are hackers, right?"

"But c'mon," Grove responded, shrugging with one arm, "wouldn't Morgana's player notice that someone else is using her character? Surely she would have gone to the admins or something…"

"But bro, what if Morgana moved away, or lost interest?" Lane asked, "If someone permanently departed from this shadow world, and didn't cancel the subscription, it would easy for a third party to use it."

"I very strongly disagree." Kettle piped.

"Why?" half the room asked at once.

"Well," the pink Heavy Ax continued, "If Morgana's PC taken, what hacker first would do? What you first do if get a PC?" They all pondered in silence for a moment, then Shake offered:

"I dunno, either take the PC's stuff or look at the Member Addresses."

"My exactly point!" Kettle exclaimed, pointing a finger up, "Morgana had in possession Member Address ver – er, of a very much high-level person Grove, is not so?"

"What do I have to do with it?" the Twinblade asked, scratching his face in puzzlement.

"Being my point," Kettle continued, "You are very better 'prize' over Morgana, is not so? People in great number would rather know or take away PC of high-level than girl who started before shortly."

"I get it…" Lane said, "If someone else was possessing Morgana, then they would try and contact bro because he's stronger, and thus a more desirable vessel. Is that it?" he asked.

"Precisely!" Kettle smiled.

Mayuko wasn't happy, though. "But since we don't know what happened, we're back where we started: none of us can get a response from **Sweetheart**."

"Su... su... **heart**? What do you mean, Mayuko-dono?" Nezumi asked. (2)

"Oh, well, it's a term of endearment." Mayuko shrugged, rearranging his furry boa, "It means someone who is nice, someone with a sweet disposition. A sweet heart."

"Oh, right. I apologize." Nezumi bowed slightly.

"Hey, I gotta go everyone." Shake said.

"Yeah, let's meet later, if anyone gets any more ideas." Lane said. They all got up and left the houses one by one, but Lory's troubled look was replaced with an expression of determination.

1010101010

In one of the many offices of CC Corp., Saki Shibiyama was furiously typing away at her computer. She had a deep scowl set in her face, and looked moments away from grumbling. Those stupid programmers still hadn't fixed that stupid rain yet! It should have been corrected days ago, but they kept coming up with the same excuses: "We can't identify the program", "There isn't any visible change in the code", "We're trying our best to identify the problem", and so on. It greatly annoyed Shibiyama.

"Still having problems, ma'am?" a slightly younger woman asked as she entered the private office with two coffee cups, "Here's your coffee, by the way."

"Thanks, Saito." Shibiyama said as she grabbed the nearest cup and gulped some of the contents. Giving the caffeine a moment to start the buzz, she replied, "Yeah, the programmers still can't find the problem, and it's hindering my job."

"I know it's hard." Saito sympathized, taking a sip from her own cup, "Should I send them another warning?"

Shibiyama sighed and leant back in her chair, pulling her fingers through her short hair, "No, that's not necessary. I did get a report from a player."

"Oh? What?"

"Apparently the player is worried about her friend, because the PC has been online for ten days straight, but without any activity."

Saito gasped, "But that-!"

Shibiyama spun her chair around. "Exactly. That's when the damn rain started." She really wanted a cigarette. "And this is exactly like a case from years ago, but maybe you wouldn't know it."

"What happened then?" Saito asked.

"There was another player who continuously played, but he was active, a player named Tsukasa. That was one of the incidents that signaled the start of the Twilight incident."

"But that's…"

"Impossible, yes." Shibiyama said thoughtfully, "This is somewhat different, though, because this continuous player…"

"Yes?" her assistant prompted.

"Every player has one of two statuses: either online or offline. There is nothing in between. And if the player is online, we can track them down through their recent logs."

"Then we can just track the player through their logs."

The older woman paused for a moment as she checked the logs, and her frown grew more pronounced, "That's impossible… this player logging into a field, but then direct warped out again. But nothing's listed, it's like she warped into thin air…"

Saito shook her head, confused, "What's her name…?"

"Morgana."

101010101

"Thank you very much for agreeing to meet with me."

"It's no problem at all."

Under an awning in an alley of Carmina Gatelica, Nezumi was meeting with an odd Wavemaster whose PC matched his name: Wiseman. After everyone had left Grove's hideout, Nezumi contacted an acquaintance that was an informant; he hoped he knew something about the whereabouts of the group's mutual friend.

"So what is it you want to know?" Wiseman asked, "You didn't specify in your email."

"Yes, a friend of mine has disappeared, and we – her friends – are worried about her."

Wiseman's eyebrows raised a bit, "Maybe she merely left? There are inconsiderate people who quit the game."

The Heavyblade shook his head slightly, "That's what Lane-dono thought, but… she's still online, but not responsive."

"Hmmm, that is strange." Wiseman agreed, "So you want to find out why she isn't responding, assuming it isn't rudeness?"

"Well, whenever any of us come on, she's always online, morning or night. We think maybe something happened to Morgana-dono."

Wiseman shifted a fraction, but coolly said, "Morgana? Is that her name?" Nezumi nodded.

"Well, could you find anything out?" he pleaded.

The Wavemaster closed his eyes a minute, then smiled. "Yes."

Nezumi broke out into a smile, "Oh, thank you very much!" he bowed deeply, "How should I pay you?"

"If I do find her, I would like her Member Address. Until then, yours will be more than enough."

Nezumi's eyes widened a fraction. Wiseman was known to be expensive, if reliable. Only a couple of Member Addresses...? "Well, yes. Yes, I suppose so." He quickly gave Wiseman his Address.

"Thank you." Wiseman smiled slightly. Bowing, he said, "May the grace of the Twilight Dragon be with you." And left Nezumi behind, who scampered off. After a few more paces, however, and the Wavemaster was stopped by a voice from above.

"_Guten tag_, Herr Wiseman!"

"Hello Schrödinger." Wiseman smiled without looking up.

Floating above him unsuspended and completely dry, a Twin blade smiled. Though it was plain that he took the "assassin" type skin, it looked younger, in that vague age between boy and man. He had more of an Indian influence in his clothing, with dusky purple and a soft orange as the predominating colors. It was also obvious that he had the werewolf subclass, but his tail was much thinner than the usual fluffy variety.

Floating down to eye level, toes brushing the ground, Schrödinger waved a hand, "Before you ask, I was just leaving my hideout when I saw you."

"A good thing you did." Wiseman replied, taking a more relaxed tone, "I have some information to deliver to Helba, but I'd like to keep tabs on a couple of players in the meantime."

Schrödinger tilted his head in interest and smiled, showing sharp canines, "Ah, so you need my unique help?"

"It would be much appreciated."

"_Ja_, _ja_, sure!" he rose a few more inches from the ground, "Name some names and I'll tail them for a while."

Wiseman smirked, "Heh. Check on the players Nezumi and Lane, and maybe we'll see how many friends our missing person has."

"Will do!" Schrödinger snapped his heels together and raised his hand in a military salute. He melted out of sight, leaving his words, Cheshire-like, in the air: "I use my power to serve, Herr Wiseman."

Shaking his head in amusement and chuckling slightly, Wiseman strode with purpose toward the Chaos Gate. Fortunately, no one stopped him, so he immediately gated along his special path to the place where he knew he could find Helba: the Net Slums. Taking a moment to observe the area (the rain permeated this place as well), he walked a few steps while sending a quick Flashmail to one of her many Addresses. In no time, Helba appeared a slight distance in front of him, though on ground level: a sign of familiarity.

"What do you have for me?" she asked with an amused lilt in her voice.

Wiseman bowed. "My Queen," he started, "I have found something very interesting from one of my acquaintances. Something about the Twilight we thought was finished."

"I assume it it's about Morgana?"

Wiseman smiled, "Observant as ever."

She gave a small chuckle, "Tell me your news."

Wiseman's expression turned serious. "It seems Morgana was interacting with normal players." He said.

There was a long pause. "I see." Helba finally said, "So the mail Schrödinger sent me was true." She smiled and waved a hand. Immediately two beings that could only be Vagrant AIs appeared from two alleyways. The first was the more normal of the two, taking the appearance of a female Heavyblade in blue armor, but chunks of her seemed to have been ripped away, leaving only black space; almost her whole face was gone, except for her right eye and cheek. 3 The other AI was stranger: it looked as if it was cobbled together from spare parts, specifically a flashlight and metal bits attached for legs, hovering in the air by two propellers.

"Ah, here you two are." Helba said, "Go ahead and introduce yourselves to Wiseman."

The torn AI shrugged girlishly and said, "Hiya! I'm Zaku-chan! That's my full name, so don't forget!"

The flashlight thing bobbed and also spoke in a high voice, "I'm Lumen! Nice to meet you!"

Smiling, Wiseman bowed; just because they didn't exist outside of The World, it didn't mean less respect or manners were due. "A pleasure to meet you both." he said after straightening.

"Well," Helba chuckled a little, "Lumen, Zaku-chan, I have a very important job for you."

"Ohh, what is it? What is it?" Zaku-chan asked energetically, almost jumping.

Helba smiled and softly laughed again, "I'm trying to find a friend, but I don't know where she is. Could you and Lumen check the fields? I don't think there will be a need to repeat fields. Just go through them methodically."

"Yes ma'am! " Zaku-chan replied, and both she and Lumen disappeared.

1010101

Balmung stalked through the damp and shining streets of Lia Fail, his expression matching the brooding clouds above. After he received an email from a player asking about a missing friend, he had pulled some strings and found that the very suspicious player Morgana was still online, but warped out of a field to nowhere. Even though he wasn't a debugger, personal interesting drove him to scope out the field where she left last. Lambda: Clashing, Stalking, Wine-Dark Sea was just an average PvP field. (4) The words weren't unusual; "Clashing" was the keyword for a PvP field, and the other two had been there for a while.

Pausing behind a tree so he wouldn't be seen, he opened a new window, ignoring the marigolds that peeped up at him. Looking through the logs (acquired by his assistant, Reki), he saw that the most recent people were spaced in a very narrow time frame, the previous players being days before them. A level 36 Heavy Axe name Gluko died in the field, probably at the hands of the familiar name on the screen: Sora. Balmung knew little of that Twinblade, only that he used to be a PK roaming the Lambda Server, and that he had been a coma victim. Balmung skimmed over to the last name: Morgana. Balmung narrowed his eyes: Gluko was killed, and Sora logged out shortly after the player Morgana logged in. But both normal players had gone directly to the Root Town: Morgana didn't go anywhere. She simple logged out of the field and didn't log in anywhere else.

This by itself was suspicious. If it was merely a bug, like a character breaking through a wall and floating through ether (5), the player would most likely disconnect manually and email the administrators. It had been ten days since this incident, but no response. Either the player was very lazy, didn't care, was letting the computer run, or couldn't access a computer. The first two were quite likely, and perhaps the player was tired of playing and decided the bug presented a good opportunity to "kill off" the PC. The third wasn't likely, since it would eat up electricity to be paid, and there was no reason to pay for something that you don't use. The latter didn't seem at all likely, since there are internet cafes everywhere, and the player had accessed nearly all hours of the day, almost like the person didn't need to eat or sleep…

Which brought up another possibility. Perhaps the PC Morgana wasn't accessing by a terminal. If so, the best-case scenario would be that it's a Vagrant AI. It was the worse case that the Blademaster worried about: that the program and enemy Morgana Mode Gone had re-emerged somehow and was moving undetected in The World for the past few months. Dangerous thoughts exploded in the winged swordsman's mind: what was she doing? Did she harm The World? How great is the damage? What is she plotting? Where was she now? The last question popped up the most, and one that he could not answer alone.

Forming his famous resolve, Balmung closed the log window and opened a new one, accessing his Mailer. Scanning through his Address Book, he found the one he needed and quickly typed out a short message:

"Subject: Urgent

Sender: Balmung

I am in need of your assistance once more. The attachment is a record of the logs ten days ago. My position limits me. I know you have unconventional power at your disposal, and I am certain they will prove useful again."

Balmung attached a copy/pasted document of the logs to the message, then sent it off to the master of the Net Slums, Helba. He turned to leave his little hidden alcove when a chime sounded, signaling he received a mail: Helba! Balmung quickly opened it and read:

"Subject: Re: Urgent

Sender: Helba

I am glad you thought to contact me, but the truth of the matter is that I am already aware of this information and am acting upon it as we speak. I will sent an envoy with information once I have acquired the pieces I need."

Somehow, Balmung sighed, he had known she was probably taking a course of action as he mailed her. That was what was useful and at times irritating about the hacker: she seemed to know things as soon as they developed, often before the administrators themselves knew. While it was good to have someone on top of things, it was sometimes irksome to find that she was, yet again, a few steps ahead.

He sighed and finally turned to yet another mail from Reki, telling him to get his work done or he would hunt him down.

10101010101

Meanwhile, in Lambda: Moonlit, Sacred, Twinhills, a party was making their way across the moon-soaked wasteland; the only other disturbance aside from the light drizzle were the Root Vegetables bounced and cried their names when the trio moved nearby. The atmosphere was broken by the occasional yew tree and clumps of marigolds, shining like gold pieces in the silvery light. On the left, a tall Fighter strode easily despite his heeled boots. On the right, a petite girl in a delicate pink was almost dragging an immense axe, which betrayed her strength despite her cherubic appearance. Between these two was a boy with drab clothes contrasted with pale yellow, like a stormy sky pierced by lightning.

Unbeknownst to the group, though, was that there was a four person. He was currently hanging quite a ways from the ground and had masked his presence. Unlike the charming illusion that he vanished into thin air, that was merely a fancy way of logging out. He wasn't so sophisticated a hacker as that, but his current gimmick worked nicely. He merely took the graphics behind and around him and projected it from his character data. Even if he was perfectly still, it folded under close examination, but it worked for his purposes: unless someone knew what they were looking for, the slight shimmer as he moved through the field could be explained away as either a small glitch or a trick of the eyes. Schrödinger grinned, Cheshire-like: ah, the wonders of the "Someone Else's Problem" phenomena.

"**Mayu,**" the Wavemaster said, breaking the silence, "**should I call upon some blessings before we go in?**" Schrödinger frowned for a moment, but realized that he was speaking in English. American, by the accent.

"**Mmmm, I don't, but maybe Doll wants one?**" the Fighter replied. Ah, a British bloke.

"**A 'blessing'?**" The Heavyaxe – Doll? No, her username is Kettle – said, also sporting a British accent, "**Like a buff? I'd like an Ap Do; I don't want to be slowing us down.**"

"**Right, gimme a sec.**" Without slowing down, Lane cast Ap Do on himself and the girl. Immediately they sped across the field, Mayuko lagging a little behind. The power-ups didn't stop there, though: he also cast HP and SP recovering spells. "**I'm gonna need those Regens**" he quipped. (6)

A giant tower loomed in front of the party and the floating shimmer, illuminated in the moonlight. They plunged down the slick steps out of the rain, and went through a couple of small rooms, only pausing to break jars and boxes, and grab the items from treasure chests. A battle passed in silence, only spells and skills being called out, but as they went to the fifth room in a deviating branch (Schrödinger had a map before him – they were going in the wrong directions), the werewolf – Mayuko – said, "**What could have possessed her to… disappear?**"

The other two paused. Lane spoke first, "**We discussed this. We don't know where she is, and it'd be impossible to look through all of the fields.**"

Mayuko frowned, then winked a shadowed eyelid, "**But I thought you had a schoolboy crush on her, right?**" Lane merely groan, shoulders falling.

"**I told you, I didn't. I hardly know her, Mayu! Stop trying to set me up. **"

"**I think you both should stop.**" Kettle interjected at last, lowering her axe to a more comfortable position, "**But… I think there is one way to find Morgana.**"

"**Oh?**" "**Do tell, Doll.**"

'_Yes, do tell._" Schrödinger thought from the ceiling.

A mischievous glint was in Kettle's eye. "**Well, humans are creatures of habit.**"

"**Oh!**" Lane pounded a fist into his palm, "**I get it. Look at her favorite fields, right?**"

Kettle nodded, "**Exactly.**"

Mayuko was still frowning, however. "**That's all well and good, but we'd have to look at her logs, right?**"

"**True. We could ask the admins, but of course, they'd refuse.**" The Heavyaxe replied.

"**Unless…**" Lane started, "**We could get them if we ask the right people, right?**"

"**Whatever do you mean, Darling?**" Mayuko asked, intrigued.

"**Well, we could ask the shamans of this world, right?**" Lane smiled, "**If anyone could invoke the spirits of binary, wouldn't it be them?**"

"**I'm afraid I don't follow…**" the lone female said unsurely.

Lane sighed, but still smiling nonetheless, "**I'm talking about those shamans of the electronic age. The ones who can twist the shape of this 'shadow world' and create back doors.**"

"**You're talking about hackers, aren't you!**" the werewolf exclaimed, cottoning on at last.

"**Hackers? But they're really shady!**" Kettle interjected.

Lane took it all patiently, eyes closed. "**But,**" he grinned as he opened his eyes, "**Who is better to call back a wandering spirit if the 'priests' won't do it?**"

"**The admins…**" Mayuko trailed off.

"**But where are we going to find a hacker?**" Kettle asked, "**I mean, it's not like we can just post on the BBS and hope we get a response.**"

"**No, you're right.**" Lane pondered. He tilted his head up toward the ceiling. His eyes opened slightly at the shimmer. A glitch? Unlikely… "**We'll have to call a shaman ourselves. It'd be tricky, since they can change their shape.**" Schrödinger froze, not moving at all. He'd have to be careful; it looks like that kid caught on to his act. Still, no reason to drop it…

"**Yes, any hacker would have multiple accounts, to avoid detections…**" Mayuko considered.

"**It'd be awkward to ask our friends if they know any, too.**" Kettle added sadly.

"**Well, for now, let's keep going.**" Lane said, taking up his staff again, "**After all, we're wasting our blessings.**" He chuckled.

The three continued deeper into the dungeon, systematically clearing every room out of all portals and chests. They all chatted about various things, from uppity children (Mayuko was an English teacher) to stupid teachers. Kettle grabbed every single Egg she encountered, both Immature and Golden, for her grunty. Schrödinger followed them every step of the way, but tried to move as little as possible. He swore he saw the kid's eyes on him. Still, aside from the conversation on the first floor, they weren't talking about Morgana, or any of their other friends. He was there to get information, but his luck was running out.

In the real world, a young man sat at a desk with two monitors side by side. He was holding one controller while another was sitting within easy reach on the desk. But what was really strange was the contraption on his head. It appeared to be two FMDs cobbled together, one on the man's face, the other resting on the back of his head, like a demented Sherlock cap. Quickly, he grabbed the other controller and flipped the goggles so the two switched places. He flicked a couple of button and he typed a string of characters on his keyboard, then switched back.

Schrödinger switched back just in time. The party had mostly left down the steps to the third floor, and only the fighter's fluffy boa was visible. Hastily, the hacker speed over to the next room, and was surprised when he was met with three stares.

"**Oh, I see it. That shimmer.**" Kettle said.

"**Yes, it could be hard to miss…**" Mayuko added

"**I told you so.**" Lane chimed,

'_Scheiße!_' (7) Schrödinger thought, freezing. This never happened before…

"**Drop your disguise, whether you be shaman, sprite, or something else entirely.**" The Wavemaster commanded, "**There is no further use for it.**"

The hacker sighed. '_Damn, no getting around it._' He thought in his native German. He descended to the floor and removed the cloaking. "**Ok, ok, you got me**" he said in English, "**But I couldn't help but overhear you are in need of a hacker…**" he grinned, flashing sharp canines.

1010101010101

(1) I'm guessing how the original Lia Fail looked like based on the tiny shot we get. And I unintentionally used some alliterative passages.

(2) If you tried to put the English word "sweetheart" (English is bolded, remember) into Japanese, then the katakana would be something like "suuitohaato" or "suitohaato". So that's why it's "su" instead of the English "sw".

(3) This is her right, so if you looked at her head-on, it would be to your left.

(4) :Shifty eyes: Plot hole? What plot hole? "PvP" means Player versus Player, as in combat, by the way.

(5) By "ether" I mean the blank/solid color screen y'get when you pop through a wall or other unprogrammed environment. I once jumped on a city wall in EverQuest, and I peered into the ether on the outside. I made sure not to fall.

(6) For those who don't know, "Regen" is a term for a regenerating spell, from the spell in the Final Fantasy series. Or at least, I use that term.

(7) Don't look it up, it's a four-letter word… which means you all will immediately look it up regardless.

So, OMG! Cliffhanger! In truth, I was working this on a long time, and I was stuck…. Then I decided to delete a coupla lines and leave it hanging. Must easier. This is freshly beta'd by my merciless sister. Huzzah! I've fixed some plot holes (ehehe…). I don't really have much to say, except I apologize profusely for not updating. I have been writing, but my daily commute rose about an hour or more daily. Plus, I have calculus. Even though I'm finally getting it, it still eats my time.

Anyway, excuses aside, please leave a review! If you don't have an account, then leave me an email or some other way to communicate, so I can reply to any questions or comments you have. Feel free to also contact me via Gaia Online – I have the same screenname.

Happy (early) Holidays!


	9. Chapter 8: Noli me tangere Part 1

Hey, everyone, sorry for the delay... well, this is 12 pages long, so enjoy! Also, if the format is wonky at any part, blame the website... I'll try and catch it all, but... Errare humanum est.

**Chapter 8: Noli me tangere (Part 1)  
**

Rumiko paused as she passed an internet café. She was sorely tempted to just nip in for a few minutes and check her email or maybe play The World a little. With a grimace, she pulled herself away and pressed on to the train station. She stopped to buy a rice ball before purchasing her ticket. She really shouldn't, but she was hungry, dammit! A little salmon rice ball wouldn't hurt…

One rice ball and three stops later, Rumiko stepped off onto the platform and walked fifteen minutes to her ordinary, modest house. She opened the front door and announced, "I'm home!" From upstairs, a pounding of feet hurried down the steps and a small girl rushed to Rumiko and hugged her around the knees.

"Welcome home, Mommy!" the little girl cried in happiness.

Rumiko laughed and kneeled down so the two were face to face. Ruffling the girl's hair, she said, "Hello, dear. How was your day?"

Rumiko's small daughter grinned, "Guess what! Guess what! Daddy let me help with lunch!"

"Oh really?" Rumiko said fondly. Another voice sounded from the doorway leading to the kitchen.

"Yep. Moeko was a great help." Rumiko's husband leaned against the doorframe.

"Is that so?" Rumiko turned back to her daughter, "How did you help Daddy?"

"I washed the veggies! An' Daddy said I did such a good job, he let me wash the stuff for dinner, too!" Moeko emphasized by spreading her little arms out to their fullest extent.

"Oh, what a good helpful daughter I have." Rumiko cooed, giving her a hug. While Moeko giggled, her mother asked, "By the way, dear, what's for dinner?"

Her husband came over and hugged them both, and said, "I was thinking of stir-fry. Sound good?"

Rumiko could feel her mouth water, "I swear, I married the world's best cook, Minoru dear."

Her husband laughed, standing up, "I'll go make it now. Say," he said in an excited voice to his daughter, "Why don't you show Mommy what you drew today?"

"Ohhhhh! Yeah! Mommy, Mommy, you hafta come look!" Moeko dragged her mother by the hand to the living room, where a picture was on the floor. "Daddy said I had'ta clean everything up, but I wanted you to look at this!" she picked up a crude crayon drawing of what looked like three people on the grass under a large yellow sun. "See?" Moeko said, "It's me, an' you, an' Daddy!"

"It's lovely." Her mother said, taking the drawing, "Why don't I take it to work with me and hang it up?"

"Yayyyyy!!!" Moeko squealed with joy, "Mommy's gonna show my pic'tur to everybody!"

Rumiko merely smiled.

After dinner, when Moeko was safely tucked into bed, Rumiko went upstairs to the computer and saw there were a couple new e-mails. She clicked on her Mailer and saw that there were three: one from Shake-chan, one from Nezumi-kun, and a third from CC Corp. Shake-chan was checking up and asking after her family. Rumiko typed off a reply and opened Nezumi-kun's mail. He told her that he had a lead with a player named Wiseman on Morgana-chan. She stared at the name. _Wiseman_. Didn't she see that on some board or another...? Shaking her head, she typed off a second response to keep her notified and opened the last one.

"Dear Lory,

Thank you for your patronage of The World. We are currently looking into the problem concerning the player Morgana and suspect it may be a bug in the logs. Rest assured that are debug team is working to correct this error at once.

We hope you are enjoying The World.

CC Corp.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are unsure as to why you received this e-mail, please contact our customer service. We apologize for any confusion"

Rumiko shook her head. A bug in the logs? Then surely other players would be having this problem… deciding to share this possibility, she logged onto The World.

Lory opened her gray eyes and looked around. There were a good number of people walking and chatting around Carmina Gatelica, considering it was prime time on TV. Of course, some could be watching TV on their computers. Lory shook her head; she'd never be able to multitask like that. Just being on the phone and cooking gave her trouble. It was always focus on one thing at a time for her. At the moment, she looked at her Member Address list. Morgana-chan was still listed as online, and in an obviously futile attempt, tried to send a Flashmail to her. As usual, the same message popped up.

The Player you are trying to call is not available. Please try again when the Player is online.

Lory sighed again. This paradox was stupid: it said try again when Morgana-chan's online, but she is online! It said so right next to her name! With another sigh, she picked out two other names on her list.

Ten seconds later, both Shake-chan and Nezumi-kun warped in from the Chaos Gate.

"Hello, Lory-dono." Nezumi softly said, bowing, "Are we going to a dungeon today?"

"Hey Lory-chan." Shake added, "I know some good keywords, if ya want."

The Blademaster smiled, "Thanks guys, I was feeling up to a dungeon." She turned to Shake, "What words are those?"

": Fleeting, Erstwhile, Popinjay. There's supposed to be a rare item at the Gott Statue." Shake hitched a thumb at the Chaos Gate, "Wanna try that?"

"Sounds good!" Lory said.

"Indeed." The lone male added, and the three went off to the field.

101010101

Zaku-chan warped with Lumen to the next field over. Lumen's bulb lit up for a moment, then dimmed. "Not here, either." The hovering contraption said, "No sign of a player named Morgana."

"It's ok, we'll find her!" Zaku-chan enthusiastically said, "We've only been to 495,342,098 fields so far."

Lumen bobbed in a pleased manner, "You're right; let's keep going. What's the next field?"

"Um…" Zaku-chan got a faraway look in her eyes and said, "Ω: Battle-scarred, Outdated, Ruins." Without another comment, Zaku-chan initiated the warp, but was stopped. In blaring red letters, "PROTECTED FIELD" appeared. Zaku-chan pressed further and harder, but it was no use: she would have to Gate Hack if she wanted entry. She set up the gate hack menu, but instead of the usual crossbar, there were about a dozen bars set up like some electronic Christmas ornament. Flipping through them, Zaku-chan made notes as to what Virus Cores were needed. Three X's, five Z's, two U's, three K's, four A's, an S, four Y's, a whopping seven V's, a G, two R's, three Q's, and… the last one made her stop. An ampersand? That & symbol… That wasn't an English letter… Whoever heard of an ampersand Virus Core? Nonetheless, this was very interesting. Of course, Morgana most likely wasn't there – what player could, which that strong a Protection? Still, Helba should know about it.

"What is it? Why aren't we moving?" Lumen asked. '_Oh, right. Whoops_', Zaku-chan had forgot about Lumen. "We can't go in." she replied, unusually serious.

"What do you mean? Of course you can."

The broken girl shook her fractured head, "There's a really strong Protection, and I don't have any of the necessary Virus Cores."

"Oh…" Lumen drooped in midair, scant inches from the ground.

"I think we should tell Helba." Zaku-chan smiled, even though she had no mouth, "Let's go!"

"Okay!" Together, the two AIs warped directly to the Net Slums, their home and Paradise. Zaku-chan ran as well as she could, though wobbled occasionally because of her fragmented feet. "Helba!" she cried, "Helba, I found something interesting!"

"Yes? What is it, Zaku-chan?" a light voice sounded from a nearby alley. It was Helba.

"Oh, there you are." The girl rushed over, "There's a really weird Protected area. I don't think Morgana could be there, but it's really weird!"

"How so?" Helba asked thoughtfully.

"Well, the gate hacking thingy – it has twelve bar things!" she emphasized this by waving her arms around, "And one of the Virus Cores is strange, too – it's and ampersand Virus Core. It had a & and everything!"

"An ampersand? That is interesting." Helba mused, "What were the others?"

"Oh, just normal ones." The girl shrugged. "Here's the list." A ping told Helba that she got an email.

"I shall call the bearer of the Bracelet at once. You are dismissed, thank you."

"Okay. I don't think Morgana will be there, though. Should we keep looking?"

"No, that's fine. Thank you again." Helba said as she typed out instructions to Wiseman. If anyone would know about Virus Cores, it would be him. After all, she reflected, she wasn't omnipotent.

101010101

Deep in the world, within the plumbless field, a storm was raging, ripping up saplings from the roots, stirring the grass and destroying that, too. Polygons were ripped more. Mixed with the debris of the tempest was a flutter of broken black feathers, originating from the figure in the very eye of this hurricane.

The figure, clothed in purple and with mottled green skin, tore at herself, at her ruffled wings (even her broken one), her hair, at the cloth at her shoulders. It was harder to say whether the wind or her tormented screams were louder; perhaps they were the same sound, after all. Her eyes sometimes rolled uncontrollably around in their sockets, much more wildly than any human could, unfettered by ligaments and muscles; other times, they stopped, quivering slightly, on an unseen point, as if desperately wishing that what she saw was an illusion.

The maelstrom continued. Flotsam composed of field feature ripped from their places swirled within the heart of the digital storm. Fragments of buildings were torn from the floating structures and bashed into the ground, only to be lifted once more. A chaotic scene that seemed to have no end.

10101010101

**Subject: Weird Item**

**Author: JoJo**

So I was in a field the other day, when I saw something half buried in the sand. I targeted it, and it said "Virus Core V", and I picked it up. What the heck is this? An event item?

**Subject: re: Weird Item**

**Author: HardG**

Sounds interesting! FOOOOOOO!

**Subject: re: re: Weird Item**

**Author: Skizz**

HardG, WTF?

Anyway, what did the item look like?

**Subject: Appearance **

**Author: JoJo**

Um, like a squat hexagonal prism. It was clear, and a pale kind of computery green.

**Subject: re: Appearance **

**Author: Skizz**

Hexagonal prism? Like a crystal?

**Subject: re: Weird Item **

**Author: Mitsumi**

Don't touch it!!! It's a hack item!!!

**Subject: re: re: Appearance **

**Author: JoJo**

Crystal? Sort of…

Is it really a hack item? ;;

**Subject: re: Weird Item **

**Author: Kelly-san**

Naw, I had a friend who got a similar item a long time ago – he sold it to a dude named Wiseman for a whole lotta gold:) Not sure if he's still on, though…

**Subject: re: re: Weird Item **

**Author: JoJo**

Really? I'll just give it to him. Then it'd be his problem. :)

**Subject: me too! **

**Author: sackofdoorknobs**

I got a Virus Core, too! Except mine was a G.

**Subject: re: me too! **

**Author: melonpan**

Where did you guys find these?

**Subject: Location **

**Author: JoJo**

Um… I wrote it down: : Swirling, Twittering, Jabberwocky

**Subject: re: Location **

**Author: sackofdoorknobs**

I was at Delta: Dolorous, Cake-shaped, Garage. Weird keywords, huh? XP It was stuck in a little crack in the ground. It was an Earth-type wasteland field.

**Subject: Collection **

**Author: Sebyon **

We should start a collection, because I found a V, too. :) At : Closed, Sun-colored, Tragicomedy.

**Subject: watch out! **

**Author: Mitsumi**

You're all gonna get cursed and your PC blocked besides!! o-o

**Subject: re: watch out! **

**Author: Sebyon**

Stop spreading rumors!

**Subject: Profit **

**Author: JoJo**

I dunno about you guys, but I'm selling mine. Then the curse will turn into gold! ;)

**Subject: False**

**Author: Sebyon**

There isn't a curse. But I think I'll hold onto mine. It's like a rare item:)

101010101

A party of two, a male Wavemaster and a female Blademaster, were racing through a snowy field, looking for the entryway for the dungeon. The girl paused every now and then to pick White Cherries for her Grunty.

"Those things are so annoying." Her partner said.

The girl shrugged, bracing her sword against her shoulder. "Maybe, but I need them. If only their voices weren't so high-pitched."

"Why don't you just buy them?"

A snort. "Because they're too damn expensive, if I can just get them from the field for free."

The magic user nodded, "Well, that's true. Let's continue."

"Hold on, there's just one more behind this column." The girl replied. She sauntered over to the remaining White Cherry, but a distant caw stopped her in her tracks. Both looked up to the sky with a simultaneous "huh?"

A black shadow swooped down, and gave another caw. It was a giant bird, about a meter in length. It was entirely black, except for the white collar pattern around its neck, breast, and shoulders. It peered at the two players for a moment, who stared back. Ruffling its shoulder feathers in an avian shrug, it dipped its beak and snapped up a fruit from the White Cherry, swallowing it. As it was picking at the other, the girl shouted, "Hey! Those were mine!" and stomped over.

"Maybe it's a monster?" her friend said.

The bird, when targeted by the blade wielder, was called a Hoodie Crow, which looked at her as if saying "What are _you_ going to do about it?" The girl started to swing her weapon, but the crow spat the Cherry stone the size of a baseball in her face. With a surprised squeak, she fell backward into the snow. Her friend laughed at her, and the Hoodie Crow strutted over to where another pair of Cherries were.

"Oh, no you don't!" the girl cried, springing up, "C'mon! That thing's a monster!"

"Oh, it is...?" the boy asked, then grinned, "Well, let's kill it, then! BiVak Dom!" A blast of flame converged onto the crow, who croaked at the indignity of being attacked. Bold red numbers flashed above it, but it only took away a small sliver of its health. "Uh-oh." The caster muttered. As retaliation, the crow beat its large wings and smacked the girl away, so she plopped back into the powder for a second time. "32" flashed above her PC.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed as her friend healed her, "It has a lot of HP, but it does crap!"

"Maybe it's just one of those endurance monsters. Try physically attacking it."

With an "ok!" she unleashed a Rue Revolver. The attack only lowered the crow's HP by a barely visible amount. The crow cawed with annoyance and, ruffling its feathers, flapped its broad black wings and flew away. Although the pair tried to do some damage, the bird was unperturbed; with a last caw, spat something back down to them before flying above the clouds and disappearing. Only when it vanished from sight did the two look at the parting "gift" of the crow. At first, the girl thought it was another pit, but when she picked it up, it was green and very geometric. "Virus Core Z?" she said aloud, "What the heck is that?"

"Maybe it was an event! A traveling monster… how exciting!" the boy exclaimed.

"Could be…"

1010101

In another snowy field, a soloing Wavemaster was taking her sweet time perambulating through the snow, admiring the scenery – she had long disposed of any monsters that could have disturbed her. She just got off from school, and since she didn't feel like a challenge, she took off on her own in a relatively low level field for her own enjoyment. She went to a random field right away at the Chaos Gate, so she wouldn't have to disappoint some party who needed her otherwise. She sighed as she passed some Cordyceps, bouncing and crying their name with glee. She laughed: Grunty Food always amused her. Those weird Jizo statues were funny, too. They all had straw hats on, just like in that fairy tale. The Wavemaster wondered idly whether there was a giant New Year's mochi somewhere. Judging by the number of "Buddhaguso" statues (as she liked to call them), there must be hundreds hidden in The World!

She stopped in front of one, smiling at its earnest staring eyes, the silly grin…

"Wait a minute…" she murmured aloud. This one didn't have teeth. Instead, the mouth had a small jewel-like object inside. Cautiously, the girl looked at the statue, then raised a hand. "Thank you very much for this humble gift, Buddhaguso-san" she said softly as she took the object from the statue's mouth. Examining it, she saw it was a six-sided polygon. She turned it around in her hand, then placed it in her inventory, where it was labeled mysteriously as "Virus Core U".

The name struck her as familiar, and glancing at another window open to the BBS, saw that other people had gotten the item as well, though different varieties. No one seemed to know what its use were, but one person said a player named Wiseman was buying them for good prices. But… this was most likely a rare item. With a nod, she decided to keep it.

1010101

"I didn't think Virus Cores could be hidden like that."

Kite, BlackRose, and Wiseman walked into the Grima Löwe Cathedral, being sent there after picking up some odd signals from the church. Balmung had actually put them onto it, as the code for the Cathedral couldn't be altered, and thus very predictable. However, there were a few lines of code that appeared that stuck out a mile. The admin theorized that it could be some Virus Cores, since they were appearing in strange places. Helba thought the same, so she sent Wiseman to take Kite to the Cathedral to investigate.

"Well, new, unusual code has appeared, and as Helba briefed you, it could be a sign of Virus Cores. After all, they have been proliferating in strange places." Wiseman said, answering BlackRose.

"So you think I could help?" Kite asked.

Wiseman nodded. "As the bearer of the Bracelet, this gives you unusual abilities. Perhaps you may be able to do something" He stopped as they approached the alter. "Do you feel anything?"

Kite closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He tried to remember how Virus Cores felt like, how there was a sort of… buzz in the air when it was in a monster. As if waiting for him, the same feeling came from behind him, in… four different directions. As he turned around and walked to the center, he felt the buzzes coming from four different points.

"Do you have it?" BlackRose asked. Kite nodded, opening his eyes.

"They're four of them. In opposite directions." He said, pointing. He looked around to see if there was anything unusual, but nothing was to be found. BlackRose also helped in the search, checking between pews and on the floor, but her search was fruitless, too.

"I don't see any…" she said.

Kite shook his head. "Neither do I."

Wiseman, however, was looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. Specifically, at the four pendulums that swung regular as clockwork. He opened his mouth as the other two made their comments and said, "It's a shame normal players don't appreciate ceilings." He mused.

"What do you mean?" the Heavyblade asked.

"Well, I mean that graphics are spent on creating three dimensions, but as a friend once told me, people rarely look up, so they miss a lot." He smiled as Kite looked up as well, expression solemn.

"Pendulums" he murmured.

"Eh?"

Kite turned to BlackRose. "The Virus Cores are in the pendulums." He looked back at the swinging orbs, "So I need to get them out somehow."

"Precisely." Wiseman added, smirking as usual.

BlackRose frowned. "But how is Kite going to get up there?" she asked.

"I… don't think I have to." Kite pondered. He raised his right hand, supported it with his left, and squinted. "I think I can Data Drain them from here." The Bracelet appeared, flashy pale blue and green polygons swirling around his wrist. With a "_ween_" sound, the Bracelet flared, and branches burst forth toward the pendulums. The screen inverted for a moment, but instead of piercing the spheres, the branches wrapped around them chunkily, halting their movement. Kite began to perspire; this had never happened before. Then a hole appeared in the nearest pendulum, and Kite allowed himself a small smile. Unfortunately, instead of the Virus Core coming out like he expected, a long pale something shot out and grabbed Kite, pulling him into the opening. The polygons flickered, and shattered, sucked in with the boy like a black hole.

The remaining two stood stunned – this had only happened within the space of a few moments. Immediately, the pendulums swung again.

Tick-tock…

BlackRose run under that nearest one and called Kite's name over and over again, clearly very frightened. Wiseman, meanwhile, was sending emails to Helba and other assistants. He got a _ping_ back, from Helba, telling him to stay there and see what he could do on-site. In the meantime, she would employ others to find unusual routes that had been taken.

Kite, meanwhile, was cautious. He couldn't see what had pulled him in. Nor could he see anything else, for that matter; it was all dark. After a wary "Hello?" had remained unanswered, he took a few tentative steps in front of him, hopeful that his vision was deceiving him into believing it was a black plane. His theory was proven right when his nose bumped into something. Feeling around, his fingers managed to target a switch. A window appeared when his hit the Action button.

Flip switch? y/n

"What..?" Kite said to himself. It was in English. Quickly opening his Japanese-English dictionary (which he had loaded onto his computer), he looked up "flip" and "switch". Confident that the window was asking him whether he wanted to turn on the switch he had found ("y/n" must have been "Yes/No"), he pressed the "Y" key, making sure to switch to the English case.

The results were immediate. A light burst on overhead, and he saw the wall that he had bumped into. Turning around, he saw that it was lucky that he went forward instead of turning around, for after a few meters the ground fell away in a massive void. He took a look around, and found that it looked like a normal room otherwise. There was a carpet on the floor, wallpaper… the bed was in a precarious but oddly stable position of being half tipped into the giant hole, pillow stuck fast to the head but the bedclothes trailing off onto the floor. Opposite the bed was a door. Shrugging, Kite opened it, careful lest there be another fall behind it.

There wasn't. Instead there was a small platform about the size of a tatami mat. In front was a small podium or stand upon which there was a plain green book. Kite opened it to the first page, but it was blank. Picking up the book, he flipped through all of the pages until, near the end, scrawled in black was more English. However, it was still easy. "east", "north", "west" and "south" were written along with cardinal numbers. Obviously directions, and the first word was "walk". He looked at the book again.

"Walk two to the east, three to the north, two to the east, three to the north, six to the west, and south four."

Obviously directions. Scribbling down his translation on a nearby notepad (normally used for field keywords), Kite put a careful foot on the space to the immediate right of the platform. Solid enough. Shifting very carefully, he managed about two paces or so before his foot fell. Pulling his foot back, he looked back to the directions and turned. Kite walked forward three paces into the darkness. It was rather unsettling to have to trust vague directions into the dark. Actually, this sort of thing reminded him of an old game he once played…

Kite toggled his camera so that it faced his back to the south. At the end of four paces, a rattling came from below him. The Twinblade brought up his weapons, stance at the defense. However, a grated floor appeared from nowhere and floated up, with him still on it. An elevator.

When the elevator platform halted through another hole in the floor, the room that greeted Kite was much the same as the first room. The walkable area was much larger, with only one wall consumed by a black emptiness. However, parts of the room looked as if it was hastily dropped or moved from. The grating was in the southwest corner of the room, and looked extremely out of place. To his right, there was a straight ladder-backed chair on the ground, as if someone tipped over backward. Beyond that was a roller desk had been pushed askew from the wall. There were papers spread around as if spilled, and a mess of fountain pens and ink bottles. There was a puddle of black ink on the hardwood floor, soaking into the nearby rug that dominated most of the floor. Kite bent down and looked at the papers. They seemed to be notes of some kind, but they were in English and… something else. German, maybe? But a few papers had some childish doodles superimposing the notes. A cat, a black-haired girl, a man, a sun…. typical pictures a small child might make. There were some doodled shapes as well. On the desk itself was a neat stack of blank paper and a small notepad; this was in Japanese.

"To Fili the White:

If you are reading this, then it means I was successful.

Ever since back then… I can never again have that joy.

Harald… it's too late to ask forgiveness.

I killed you with my own hands.

It doesn't matter anymore.

What happened, happened.

Nothing I do can change that.

You can't put rain back into a cloud.

I have given up on Aura. There are too many bad feelings there.

She was the cause of my madness. But… I was, as well.

There are many others I should mention as well…

But we shall talk when we meet face to face.

I don't mean to abandon you.

I know, better than anyone else, that it's the worse feeling in the world, to be unwanted.

Anyway, to the point.

Your father…

I needed more data to truly make you unique. So I took some data from when he was with me.

He… might not forgive me.

I'm afraid, Fili.

So you might have to be the ambassador between us.

I'm sorry this fell to you.

I need to talk to Mia eventually…

She grew apart, and became her own person.

I want to give her my blessing. But… she might hate me, too.

I shouldn't fear: I have a gift in store for her, as conciliation.

I was very stupid.

But… I don't feel so angry anymore.

Just sad, I guess.

I'll tell you more when we meet.

-Morgana"

"Morgana..?" Kite said aloud, "This was written by her?" A window appeared, telling him he had "Morgana's Note 01" in his Keyitems. Shrugging it aside for later, the Twinblade looked around the room. Near the center to the east side of the room was a black grand piano that had fallen drunkenly on its side; one leg was ripped or smashed off, the next was halfway cut off. Beyond that was an overturned piano bench. Walking past these, Kite saw a rocking chair on its side to his left. On the west wall there was a bookshelf, but the void to the north ate into it, so only part of it remained. There were spilled books around it, though they were abruptly cut off at the blackness. One book was opened on the floor, as if someone was reading it, a book on the meaning of flowers.

All that was left was a little strip of floor that stretched out into the abyss. Cautiously, Kite walked forward, eyes sweeping around for any sign of danger. His feet scraped against the partial bookcovers that plunged into the nothingness. At the very end of the walkway, there was another scrap of paper. Taking note of how fragments like these could be important, he picked it up, but it had more English. However, it was in quotation marks, so, praying it was a famous quote from somewhere, he did a search and immediately found it. Putting it through an online translator, he got:

"Perhaps him who fights with the monster him you take the worry which becomes the monster with that. If and the hell is looked long for the sake of, you and it looks the hell"

"What...?" Kite murmured to himself, peering into the void from his wooden peninsula while copying the English to translate properly later. For a few moments, nothing happened, and just when Kite thought that he was tense for nothing, a great pink something coalesced into existence. The Twinblade recognized it immediately, and, shocked, said its name aloud.

"C-cobernik..!!"

It didn't do anything, just floated in the darkness, seeming to consider the player before it. Then, in a light voice:

"For a rebirth, these are needed." Without another word, it vanished like morning mist. In its place, a shimmering white Chaos Gate appeared. Targeting it, Kite pressed the Action button back to  Hidden, Forbidden, Holy Ground.

"Kite!"

Kite found his character back in the Grima Löwe Cathedral. BlackRose ran up to him, obviously worried. Wiseman was more reserved, but with a concerned frown.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked hurriedly.

"I…" the Twinblade shook his capped head to clear it, "I was in a room, but it looked like half of it was ripped away."

"You mean like that room with the craters, back then?"

Kite shook his head in dissent this time. "No, it was black. Anyway, there was this… puzzle, and then another room, like the first, but messier. I… also saw Cobernik, who gave me four Virus Cores."

"Virus Cores?" "C-_cobernik_?" both Wiseman and BlackRose said at the same time. Sharing a glance, BlackRose spoke again.

"You saw Cobernik? What happened? Was there a battle?"

"No, just some English… but I can't read it that well, just something about seeing and a monster…"

"Could you give me a copy?" Wiseman asked, fingering his staff thoughtfully.

"Wiseman, you can speak English?" the pink-haired girl asked, surprised.

"I know a friend who can, quite fluently." He said smoothly, "But a second opinion is necessary. Kite."

"Yes? I can't speak English that well…"

The Wavemaster smiled, "Not you, don't worry. Could you ask Sunaarashi Sanjuuro to translate it? As a teacher, I'm sure he will do an admirable job."

"Oh, yes! I should have thought of that." Kite said, "I'll get right on it. Here." He Flash ailed a copy of the English.

"Well, at least now we have more Virus Cores." BlackRose said, "So we're a few steps closer to getting to the bottom of all this!"

"Nowhere near as dramatic as the Twilight Incident, though" Wiseman laughed.

"That's not funny."

The party left the cathedral and warp out, golden rings shimmering in the soft pre-dawn light. Inside, the pendulums swung much as they did before, as if nothing strange happened.

Tick-tock...

10101010101

Review, please? I shall admit, I incorporated some horror game elements into this. Expect that next chapter, too. Well, I was going to make this one chapter, but it got so long, and you guys are so patient, I decided to make it into two parts! By the way, "Sunaarashi Sanjuuro" is Sanjuro's Japanese screen name. Everyone just shortens it, though.


End file.
